B Surender Mohan, chairman and managing director, said this would consist of 4,140 Mw lignite-based, 6,980 Mw coal-based and 70 Mw in wind and solar. The lignite production capacity of 30.6 million tonnes would be increased to 38.85 mt.
“It is more imperative NLC’s growth shall commensurate with expenditure. We should have strict cost control measures to curtail the avoidable overhead expenditure to the maximum possible extent,”he said at his Republic Day speech recently.
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The Navratna company plants were generating power at 26 per cent higher cost than the O&M (operation and maintenance) cost prescribed by the CERC, mainly on account of high employee cost, he said.
New projects
The 2X250 Mw TPS-II expansion would commence commercial operation this fiscal (unit 1 by February and unit 2 in March) while the 2X500 Mw joint venture project NTPL at Tuticorin is expected to be commissioned in February and May respectively. The fuel supply agreement for the plant has been signed with Mahanadi Coal Fields of Coal India.
Unit 1 of the 2x500 Mw Neyveli new thermal power plant is expected to be commissioned in August 2017 and unit 2 in February 2018. Of the three major packages, contract for two had been awarded and tender finalisation for the third was in advanced stage, he said.
Among others, the company is waiting for Tamil Nadu government’s in-principle approval for allocation of land for the 4,000 Mw Sirkali thermal power project in the state. Coal for the project would be sourced from the Jilga-Barpalli coal block of Chhattisgarh.
As part of diversification in renewable energy, NLC had announced it was planning to set up a 10 Mw solar plant at Neyveli and had also invited tenders. It is now planning to set up another 10 Mw at Barsingsar in Rajasthan.