Mega power project to come up at Ratnagiri

Of the five ultra mega power projects announced by the central government one would come up at Ratnagiri.

"The central government has decided to commence five ultra mega power generation projects across the country. The capacity of each project will be 4000 mw. Three projects will be built at coastal areas of the country, including Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, while one each will be built in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. These projects will be built through private companies," said the state Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

"The state is facing power crisis. 4000 mw load shedding is being done daily in the state through Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd. (MSEDCL). Due to the gap between power supply and demand, load-shedding hours have been extended to 12 hours in rural areas. Instead of continuous 12 hours of load shedding, the government has directed the MSEDCL to implement load shedding in two phases- six hours each in day and night. The government is making full efforts to make the state free from load shedding. Today, the state government is buying power at Rs 7 per unit," he said.

Admitting that not a single mw power was generated in the state in the last ten years, the CM said, "The state government is taking long-term measures for power generation so that the state would not face such bad phase in future. As part of this the government has decided to promote power generation through privatisation from wind power and hydraulic power from dam water," Deshmukh said.

Exuding confidence that the state would soon overcome power shortage, the CM said, "740 mw power will be available by May this year from Enron project, while 2,000 mw power will be available by December this year from the proposed Ratnagiri project. Besides, 400 mw each will also be available from Parali and Paras projects by March end this year.