Reliance Energy gets land for Butibori plant

However, water woes in the industrial area remain a concern.

Reliance Energy has been allotted 175 acres of land for its proposed 200 mw power plant at the Butibori Industrial Estate.

Reliance Energy may invest Rs 400 crore in the first phase to generate 100 mw thermal power. Construction is expected to begin soon.

Meanwhile, increase in industrial activity is giving sleepless nights to MIDC officials. Indo Rama Synthetics (India) and Morarjee Brembana, two major industrial units at Butibori, have to reduce the pace of their expansion projects due to shortage of water.

"We have told the government to augment water supply. Once investments start pouring in, it will be difficult," said an MIDC officer. Butibori complex's requirement for water is expected to touch 30 million litres per day (MLD), 13 million litres more than what it gets now. Water is supplied to the industrial area from the twin Nand-Wadgaon dam (Lower Vunna project). Nand dam provides 4.81 mld and Wadgaon dam contributes 13 mld.

Additional chief engineer SD Jejurikar admitted that the situation was serious, and said the industrial area is provided with 17.81 mld water against the requirement of 24 mld.

MIDC's proposal to the water resourses department has not yielded any results so far. Though it was submitted in in July, the water resourses department has not taken a decision yet due to physical limitations.

The department has said it had to keep aside 15 per cent of the total capacity of a reservoir as a buffer stock. Another 30 per cent had been kept apart for MIHAN project and a proposed power plant by the Gupta group. The department has already sanctioned 10.52 mld for the Hinganghat water supply scheme and reserved 1.27 mld for Siddhi water supply scheme.

MIDC has offered to pay capital cost towards increasing the capacity of the dams or funding any projects the department may consider to increase the water supply.

According to MIDC, capacity of the dam could be increased from the present 189 million cubic metres to 250 million cubic metres.