Jindal Power to start work on its 2,400 MW thermal power plant in Raigarh district in Chhattisgarh after it gets the environment clearance

Jindal Steel and Power Limited on Thursday said the company would soon start work on its 2,400 MW thermal power plant in Raigarh district in Chhattisgarh after it gets the environment clearance."We would soon start construction work on the 2,400 MW coal based O P Jindal Thermal Power Plant after getting the environment clearance," Managing Director of the company Naveen Jindal told media here.
About acquisition of land for the Rs 13,000 crore project he said, "The land can be acquired only after the project gets the clearances. I am in favour of maximum utilisation of space so that less land is acquired for the project. This will help in leaving more land for agriculture."
In August, nearly three months after the Environment Ministry withdrew the initial nod, it had restored the clearance granted to Jindal Power for its Chhattisgarh project.After reviewing the case and details submitted by the project proponent (Jindal Power), the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) under the Environment Ministry had recommended that the project may be appraised by following the original Terms of Reference (ToR).In June, the Ministry had revoked the initial clearance or TORs given to Jindal Power, last year, citing the violation of certain green norms. It had withdrawn the ToR saying that the company cannot construct the power plant in the estimated 62 hectares of land.The Ministry, which called the proposed project as "premature", had also said that the firm has changed the location of the proposed plant.However, at the EAC meeting, refuting charges, Jindal Power officials had contended that the project would come up at 456 hectares of land and also maintained that there is no change in the location of the power plant as alleged by the environment ministry, the official said.
The Ministry had also charged the company of starting the construction work for the new power plant at the site and asked the state government to take action against the firm. The company is targeting to commission two units of 600 MW each out of the proposed 2400 MW before March 2012.Jindal Power, which is gearing up to launch an initial public offer later this year, has planned an investment of Rs 65,000 crore in the next 10 years for increasing its power production capacity. It currently runs a 1,000 MW power project in Chhattisgarh.