Orissa poised to be country's powerhouse

Orissa, expected to manufacture 70 mtpa of the projected 124.6 mtpa of steel by 2011-12, is also poised to become the country's 'power house' in the next few years, state Energy Minister S N Patro said today.

Orissa had already signed MoUs with 13 power utilities including Tata Power, Visa Power, CESC, Essar Power for generation of 11,000 mw of power. Nearly Rs 60,000 crore would be invested in the 13 projects, he said.

According to the minister, besides the 13 companies, NTPC had also planned to set up two ultra mega power stations in the state which would generate 4,000 mw of power each.

NTPC had also plans to set up another unit which would generate 3,200 mw through coalfiring, he said.

Official sources said that this would be NTPC's third power plant in the state after 460 mw Talcher Thermal Power Station and 3,000 mw Talcher Super Thermal Power Station in Angul district.

Elaborating on the state's potential in power generation, Patro said Orissa would generate an additional 1,000 mw of hydroelectricity in the near future through 110 small and mini hydel power units.

"The government is interested to set up more and more mini and small hydel power units as they are considered clean energy."

The minister, however, admitted that though Orissa was projected as a power surplus state in terms of generation it faced peak deficit of 2.1 per cent from April to August, 2007.