Reeling under severe power crises, Tamil Nadu government is mooting a plan to set up a power plant in Chhattisgarh.
The proposal was in the preliminary stage as final decision will be taken after consultation with the Chhattisgarh government that would provide other infrastructure required for the project. Tamil Nadu’s electricity minister Natham R Viswanathan on Monday met Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh to discuss the issue.
“The Tamil Nadu government had proposed to set up a 4000-MW thermal power plant in Chhattisgarh, where it had been allotted a coal block with Maharashtra government’s mining corporation,” Chhattisgarh’s Energy Secretary Aman Singh told Business Standard. The block had been allotted in Gare Pelma in Raigarh district.
The Government of India had allotted the coal block to a joint firm of Maharashtra State Mining Corporation and Tamil Nadu Electricity Board. The capacity of the coal mine is 15 Million Tonne Per Annum (mtpa). The coal block is estimated to have a Geological Reserves of 768 million tonnes approximately.
Both the government had formed a Joint Venture called Maha Tamil Collieries Limited (MTCL) for exploring, developing, mining and supply of coal. The work on the mine is yet to start.
The officials quoting the minutes of the meeting said that Viswanathan informed Singh that Tamil Nadu minister was at present facing a power shortage of 4,000-MW. The Tamil Nadu government is willing to set up a power plant in Chhattisgarh to ensure the use of coal from its mines and bail out state from the power shortage.
Under the proposal submitted by the Tamil Nadu government at par with the policy of Chhattisgarh government, the state would have the first purchase rights on 30 per cent power produced in the plant. Besides, Chhattisgarh will also get 7.5 per cent power at variable cost.
The Energy Secretary said that the Chhattisgarh government would consider the proposal of the Tamil Nadu government as no final decision had been taken. If the project takes off, Tamil Nadu would be the second state to set up a power plant in Chhattisgarh. The Karnataka government is setting up a 1600-MW power plant in Janjgir-Champa district, the work of which has already started.
