Pradhan seeks early approval of NTPC project in Odisha

Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday requested Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to expeditiously approve the setting up of NTPC's 1320-MW project at a cost of Rs 9,785 crore in the state.

The PSU has proposed to set up an additional state-of-the-art, latest environmental norms compliant power station of 1320 MW at the existing location of NTPC, Talcher.

The NTPC board on September 10 has approved an investment of Rs 9,785 crores for the project.

"NTPC has obtained land, water, environmental and other statutory clearances. But being a large project it requires project clearance by High-Level Committee (HLC) of the State Government. Unfortunately, NTPC is still awaiting approval of the HLC despite applying online for Single Window Clearance on 19 April, 2017," said Pradhan.

The ongoing and proposed investment by NTPC in the state is above Rs 24,000 crores.

"Lack of requisite clearances for such big-ticket investments even after a lapse of more than 15 months will dampen the investment climate in Odisha and send a wrong signal to the investor community," said the Minister in a letter to the CM.

He said NTPC's proposed power project is expected to make power available to the people of Odisha at a cheaper rate because of easy availability of coal and use of latest technology.

The proposed project is critical for the life and economy of the area as the existing power generating units at the site are old and might find themselves on the wrong side of stringent environmental norms which would be devastating for the local economy, Pradhan explained.

--IANS

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