Palatana power project to resume generation this week

North-East India's biggest gas fired thermal power project at Palatana in Tripura's Gomati district which stopped generation few months ago will be operational this week.
The ONGC-Tripura Power Company project had developed some faults in the compressor which were repaired by BHEL, ONGC's Tripura Asset Manager Ved Prakash Mahawar said today.
"It will start generation within this week," he told PTI.
Its first unit of 363 MW of the 726 MW was dedicated to the nation by President Pranab Mukherjee on June 21 to cater to seven of the eight states in the region plagued with power shortage.
The second 363 MW would start generation in February next, Mahawar said.

The project, which received fuel from ONGC at a firm price with extension of 4 per cent a year over long term, will help reduce the power crisis in the region.

Assam will get the maximum share of 240 MW, followed by Tripura (196 MW), Meghalaya (79 MW), Manipur (42 MW), Nagaland (27 MW), Mizoram (22 MW) and Arunachal Pradesh (22 MW), while Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) and ONGC Tripura Power Company (OTPC) would retain 98 MW.
The states have formed a transmission company in partnership with Power Grid Corporation to evacuate the power.
Mahawar said that there were some problems in drawing up a 400 KV power transmission line through Assam for connection with the national grid at Bongaigaon.

"Some legal problems are coming in the way of setting up high transmission towers and unless proper transmission system is set up it will be difficult to evacuate the power generated from the Palatana project," Mahawar said.
The power project combined with linked transmission project and upstream gas supply network has attracted investments of around 10,000 crore in the region.
The project, taken up in 2005, has been delayed due to hurdles in transport of large equipment in the hilly region.
Neighbour Bangladesh, however, allowed India to transport the equipment using its ports and land routes.