Orissa seeks free power from projects

Orissa has urged the Planning Commission that at least 12 per cent of the thermal power produced in the state be given free to it.

Citing the case of Himachal Pradesh, which receives a free share of electricity from the hydro-electric stations located in the state, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has appealed Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia to extend similar benefits to Orissa.

The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), at present, has a 2,000 Mw generation facility at super thermal power station in Kaniha near Talcher. The installed capacity of the state is proposed to be scaled up to 3,000 Mw soon.

If Orissa's plea is approved, the state can get 360 Mw free power from this station alone. While seeking approval of the annual State Plan for 2005-06 at Rs 2,800 crore, Patnaik has sought the intervention of Ahluwalia for declaring Orissa a "Special Category state". He has also sought latter's help in projecting the state as the focus of multilateral and bilateral funding to strengthen its physical and social infrastructure.

Patnaik said his government had been aggressive in seeking private sector investment to boost economic growth of the state and had already signed 25 MoUs with interested entrepreneurs to establish mineral processing plants with capacities of more than 15 million tonne per annum.

"Many more MoUs are in the pipeline. Investments in the steel, aluminium, IT, tourism and energy sectors are happening", he added.

Patnaik, who is meeting Ahluwalia in New Delhi tomorrow to finalise the state's annual Plan size, said that Orissa had achieved an average annual growth rate of about 5.58 per cent during the first two years of the 10th Plan.

"In the wake of difficult resource situation, this has become possible owing to more focused and efficient resource allocation for identified development programme", he said and added that his government had strengthened the monitoring mechanisms for the implementation of programmes.

As a result, the utilisation of the central assistance and the submission of the utilisation certificate have substantially improved.

The chief minister assured the Planning Commission that the state aimed at reducing poverty by at least 7 per cent by the end of the 10th Plan.