Palatana project to begin commercial production this month

"At present the first unit of the project is generating 364 MW with its trial run completed. The second unit would be operational by June this year," the sources said, adding this was conveyed by OTPC General Manager S K Dubey to Power minister Manik Dey when he visited the project site yesterday.

The OTPC General Manager said a meeting on January 15 has been fixed with the North-East Load Despatch Centre, the authority for giving permission for generation.

Dubey said, the transmission line was drawn up to Silchar in Assam, but it needed to be drawn up to Bongaigaon for connecting with the national grid which was yet to be completed.

 

He said, drawing the transmission lines through hilly terrain and forests was an uphill task, but the progress was satisfactory.

Four Northeastern states - Assam, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Manipur - would buy power from the Palatana power plant, Dubey said.

He said that 2.6 million standard cubic metre of gas per day (mmscmd) would be required when fullscale generation started.

The total project cost including the erection of transmission lines was Rs 9000 crore.