The Orissa government has threatened it will not support the Union power ministry’s 4,000-mw ultra mega power project (UMPP) at Bedabahal in the state’s Sundergarh district if the power project of NTPC and the expansion project of IB Thermal Power Station (ITPS) is not saved.
The state’s chief minister Naveen Patnaik in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, copy of which are available with FE, has stated, “It will be difficult on the part of the state to facilitate and support the UMPP project at the cost of the other two projects, particularly the expansion of Orissa Power Generation Corporation’s ITPS.”
The ministry for environment and forest (MoEF) has cleared the Meenakshi coal block of UMPP on the condition that NTPC and the Orissa Power Generation Corporation (OPGC) will have to give up their respective Dulung and Manoharpur coal blocks in the vicinity. As per data available in the.coal ministry, while the Meenakshi block has about 285 million tonne of coal, Dulung and Manoharpur-Dipside Manoharpur have reserves of 260 million tonne and 281 million tonne respectively.
“The MoEF proposal to categorise the Meenaskhi coal block allocated to UMPP from ‘no go’ to ‘go’ under the condition that the power ministry gives up the opening of Manoharpur and Dulanga coal blocks allotted to OPGC and NTPC respectively is not acceptable,” the chief minister said. Any decision taken in favour of UMPP coal blocks alone would be unfair considering the significant progress and investment made by OPGC on the thermal project and coal mine development, he said.
The chief minister further said that the coal blocks allocated to OPGC fall within a cluster allotted to UMPP, NTPC, MCL and other independent power projects in the Ib-valley coalfield of the state (IPPs).
The state-owned OPGC is pursuing capacity expansion by 1,320 mw (2x 660 mw) of its ITPS to feed the state grid. NTPC is proposing to set up a 4,800 mw power project at Darlipali in Sundergarh district sourcing coal from Dulunga coal block
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