NLC's Rajasthan plant to start operations in 2 years

Power production at the Rs 1,300-crore Neyveli Lignite Corporation's (NLC's) Barsingsar lignite-based power project in Rajasthan is slated to start in two years.

NLC is setting up a lignite mining-cum-power project, at Barsingsar, in Bikaner district, at an estimated cost of over Rs 1,300 crore.

The 2x125 Mw power project will cost Rs 1,100 crore, while the 2.1-million-tonne per annum mining project is estimated to cost Rs 2,540 crore.

During his visit here in March, the chairman of NLC assured the chief minister, Vasundhara Raje that state would start getting power from the power project from September 2008, four months prior to its schedule dates.

He informed that construction of seven kilometre of long diversion road and other civil construction works were going on at full speed at the proposed site. The chairman said that Bharat Heavy Electrical (BHEL) has already been given orders for plant and machineries to be installed at the power house.

Meanwhile, NLC has shown interest in setting up more lignite based power plants in the state due to abundance of lignite in the state. Besides existing unit of 250 MW the corporation has proposed two more such units of 250 MW capacities each in the desert state, sources in the state government's energy department said.

NLC has also evinced interest in establishing four units of 500 MW of capacity in Riri area of Bikaner district for which a requirement of 85 cusec water has been raised.