Maithon project to go onstream by '10

The Maithon Right Bank Mega Power Project, a 74:26 joint venture between Tata Power and Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), will be commissioned during 2009-10.

The 1,000 mw plant, with two generation units, will export power to the northern and western states. The Rs 3,800 crore project will be funded through 70:30 debt-to-equity ratio.

Tata Power will be contributing close to Rs 840 crore to the equity corpus with DVC adding another Rs 300 crore to it. The financial closure is likely to be achieved by mid-2007.

Union Minister for Power Sushil Kumar Shinde presided over the foundation-laying ceremony held here on Wednesday. Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, DVC Chairman Asim Barman, and Tata Power Director Adi Engineer were also present.

Barman said DVC itself needed power, as it had a large command area and lakhs of consumers of its own. Most of the clearances, including those from pollution control board and environment and forest ministries, have already been received.

Long-term coal linkage from Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) and water allocation from the adjacent DVC Maithon reservoir have also been tied up.

Engineer said the company expected to go in for more such joint initiatives in the sector. The Maithon project is a greenfield coal-based generation unit, located about 250 km each from Jamshedpur and Ranchi and 25 km from Asansol in West Bengal, and is connected to National Highway 2 and to the Howrah-Mugal Sarai line of Eastern Railways.