State moots Power Mgmt Institute

Keeping in view the huge manpower requirement for the upcoming power plants of the independent power producers (IPPs) in Orissa, the state government is mulling to set up a Power Management Institute on the lines of the National Power Training Institute (NPTI).

All the IPPs have assured their support to the state government for this institute. To implement the project, the state government would form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) with IPPs as stake holders.

The location, investment, intake capacity and other relevant details are yet to be worked out as things are at a preliminary stage.P K Jena, the state energy secretary, said, “The state government is planning to set up a power management institute on the lines of NPTI. The proposed institute is still at a conceptual stage and a concept note is being prepared by the state government in this connection.”

“The power management institute will offer diploma as well as degree courses in engineering. The institute will primarily focus on various areas pertaining to the power sector”, he added.

The objective behind setting up this institute is to prepare skilled and semi-skilled manpower for the upcoming power projects.It may be noted that as many as 27 IPPs have inked MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) with the state government. All these 27 IPPs have a cumulative generation capacity of 32,420 MW.These power projects are set to generate around 50,000 direct jobs besides creating indirect employment for 150,000 people.

Among the power producers who have entered into MoUs with the state government are GMR Energy, Essar Power, CESC Limited, Sterlite Energy Limited, Tata Power, Jindal Steel & Power Limited and Visa Power to name a few.

The state government had recently reviewed the progress made by these power producers on their projects.