NTPC hopes to get Centre's nod on fuel linkage for Katwa

State-owned thermal power major NTPC today said it was hopeful of getting the Centre's nod for receiving coal linkage from mines of the state government for its proposed Katwa plant.
"We had been informed that the Coal Minister has agreed to review the proposal of coal linkage from the state government dispensation for the Katwa project," NTPC chairman and managing director Arup Roy Chowdhury said today after meeting the state power minister Manish Gupta and other officials in the state secretariat.
Earlier, the proposal was scrapped by the Coal Minister Piyush Goyal.
The minister said that NTPC was unable to float tender for the Katwa project without this coal linkage.

He had said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had discussed the issue with Goyal during the inauguration of Coal India's new corporate office at Rajarhat recently.
The chief minister on her part too assured the Centre of all help and cooperation in the setting up of the plant. Coal linkage and Environment Impact Assessment are the two pre-requisites for the project to get off the ground.
Out of 853 acres of land required for the project, the state government has already handed over 556 acres for the 1,320 MW thermal power plant, while another 97 acres would soon be handed over, Gupta said adding the NTPC on its own acquired 200 acres of land.

The NTPC stepped in to set up the plant after state-owned WBPDCL, which was supposed to construct it was unable to acquire the requisite land.