Rs 140 cr Hudco loan for UP power plants

Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd (Hudco) has approved a Rs 140-crore loan for the upgrade of two thermal power plants in Uttar Pradesh.

The loan is critical for the power-starved state, which witnesses peak hour power deficit of almost 3,000 Megawatt (Mw) on a regular basis.

Hudco will provide around Rs 140 crore loan for installing electro-static precipitators (ESP) at Harduaganj and Parichha power plants in Aligarh and Jhansi districts, respectively. ESPs are devices to control environmental pollution.

The two plants having an installed capacity of about 700 Mw are owned by UP Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd. The ESPs would be installed in three and two units of Harduaganj and Parichha, respectively.

Precipitators are being used by many industries due to environmental concerns and government regulations. A precipitator removes particulate (dust and soot) and prevents it from entering in atmosphere.

Meanwhile, the state cabinet yesterday decided to provide free guarantee against Hudco loan. Earlier, the State Pollution Control Board had provided a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the expansion programmes of these power plants on the condition that ESPs would be installed soon.

The total project cost is Rs 180 crore, of which 70 per cent would come from debt and 30 per cent from equity to be provided by Hudco and the state government.

“We had already placed the order for ESPs with Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel) and the work has been on after getting funds from the state government,” Nigam Managing Director Alok Tandon told Business Standard.

The whole project is likely to be completed by the 2009-10 financial year. Tandon said all the old power plants are mandated to conform to pollution control norms and such steps would be undertaken at other units also.

The total generation capacity of the hydro and thermal power units in the state, numbering 26, is about 2,500 Mw, while almost 3,000 Mw are imported from the central sector, which is much below the peak hour demand of over 8,000 Mw.