The operation of 1200-Mw power plant of Vedanta-controlled Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (Balco) in Korba is likely to be delayed as the Chhattisgarh government has terminated the factory licence.
The proposed power plant of Balco located in Korba—about 250 km from here—had been in the thick of controversy. The chimney disaster in the plant in September 2009 claimed 41 lives that put the entire plant under the scanner of the authorities.
The issue of power plant and the license awarded to it came up in the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly today when Dr Premsai Singh asked about the units and the status. He also sought information from the state government about the factory licence granted to the plant.
In a written reply, Chief Minister Raman Singh informed the Balco had proposed to set up four units of 300-Mw each in the power project. “The work of none of the unit had been completed,” Singh said, adding that the construction work of power project was still going on.
Singh said the labour department of the state government had granted factory license for the Balco’s power project on August 05, 2011. “The licence had been terminated on December 7, 2012 following the order of chief factory inspector,” Singh said. The license had been terminated till further order, he added.
The termination of factory license would further delay the operation of the power plant in Balco.
The license is mandatory to start operation in the plant. The officials in the department said that Balco had to start the exercise again from zero to get the required clearances.
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Moreover, the company officials hve been claiming that most of the work in the power plant had been completed.
The chief minister cleared that none of the four units had been complete for commissioning.