Stalemate over Rs 5,500 crore DVC-NLC partnership continues

Stalemate over the Rs 5,500 crore joint venture between Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) and NLC Limited for the 1,200 MW Raghunathpur thermal power plant continues as the West Bengal government and DVC have not been able to resolve pending issues.
"The matter is now been forwarded to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and she has already referred the matter to the chief secretary. There are some technical issues," state power minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay said.
The DVC-NLC joint venture is awaiting West Bengal's nod as it is an equal stakeholder along with the Centre and Jharkhand state government.
Both the Centre and Jharkhand state government have given their nod and DVC is waiting for Bengal's go ahead to stop the financial bleeding of some Rs 70 crore per month.

"Annual loss on account of Raghunathpur is Rs 800 crore. DVC can turnaround if the joint venture fructify," a DVC official said.
DVC officials told PTI that they had implemented the 7th pay commission, which was one of the demands of the ruling TMC trade union, but other demands involving some 300-400 employees remain unresolved.
The DVC-NLC joint venture is a win-win for all stakeholders as NLC has existing power purchase agreement, which can be readily used for Raghunathpur to utilise the full capacity generation while DVC will be out of red, the officials said.
The project will act as a catalyst for development of the backward district of Purulia, DVC officials felt.