NTPC's Lara plant starts generating power in Chhattisgarh

State-owned power giant NTPC today said its first unit of 2x800 MW Lara Super Thermal power station in Chhattisgarh commenced generating electricity, which took the group's total capacity to 52,991 MW.

NTPC has 21 coal based, 7 gas based, 11 solar PV, two Hydro, one wind and 8 subsidiaries / joint venture power stations. The company is currently building an additional capacity of over 19,000 MW at multiple locations in the country, it said in a statement.

After the first unit of Lara plant starts generation, the total commissioned capacity of the NTPC and the NTPC group has become 46,100 MW and 52,991 MW, respectively, it added.

Located at Raigarh, the first unit has gone on-stream just ahead of the summer season and will help meet additional power demand for states in western region, including Chhattisgarh.

NTPC, recently crossed the power generation capacity of 52,000 MW with the commissioning of its 800 MW Kudgi Super Thermal Power Station in Karnataka on March 12, 2018 and is committed to meet the rising power demand in the country as economic growth gains momentum.

In a separate statement, the NTPC said that it has started coal extraction today from its second coal mine - Dulanga in Odisha.

The NTPC has been allotted 10 coal blocks to meet its fuel requirements, its first coal block Pakhri Barwadi is in operation since June 2017.

The company is currently is working on 5 coal blocks i e Pakri Barwadih, Chatti Bariatu, Kerandari, Talaipalli and Dulanga coal mines with total geological reserves of 3.8 billion tonnes and mining capacity of 56 MMTPA (million tonnes per annum).