India’s largest energy conglomerate NTPC ltd has commenced taking up a host of community development projects in the villages around the proposed super thermal power plant (STPP) at lara in Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh.
The company is in the process of setting up 3x800 MW super thermal power project at lara. It will soon launch a mobile health clinic at the project site besides deciding to establish a Public Information Centre (PIC) at the site, officials stated.
In June this year the company took up construction of a total of nine overhead tanks at nine projects affected villages at lara.
Notably, a letter issued by Union Ministry of Environment and Forest to the Environment Engineering Division of NTPC ltd dated December 13, 2012 had stated : ‘The project component shall adequately contribute in the development of the neighbouring villages. Special package with implementation schedule for providing potable drinking water supply in the nearby villages and schools shall be undertaken in a time bound manner.
It had further mentioned: “Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) scheme should be undertaken based on the need based assessment in and around the villages within 5 km of the site and inconstant consultation with the village panchayat and the district administration.”
Significantly, NTPC the largest power utility of the country recorded highest single day generation of 733.12 MUs, the highest so far in this Financial Year from its 18 coal based, 7 gas based, 8 solar and Hydro power stations on August 27, 2015. The Declared Cumulative Capability of the stations was 91.10 per cent and Plant load factor (PlF) of 86.34 per cent on the day.
During financial year 2014-15, NTPC Group contributed 25 per cent of total electricity generated in India with 16 per cent share of Country’s total installed capacity as on 31.03.2015.
NTPC recorded Gross generation of 241.261 BUs (stand-alone) in FY 2014-15 registering a growth of 3.42 per cent. Plant load Factor (PlF) of NTPC’s coal stations was 80.23 per cent against national average of 64.46 per cent. Two stations recorded more than 90 per cent PlF.
All NTPC stations achieved Plant Availability of or above 83 per cent. Four coal stations of NTPC featured among the top 10 stations of the Country in terms of PlF in FY 2014-15.
Notably, the Centre has signed a Memorandum of Understanding each with the states of Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh for critical coal connectivity projects to improve transportation of coal, officials informed.
Coal production in Chhattisgarh stood at 115.19 million tonnes (MT) during 2014-15 (provisional), officials stated.
This was in comparison to 110.14 million tonnes (actual) coal produced in the State during the previous year.
The State had already produced 27.857 million tonnes of coal during the period April to June 2015 (provisional), officials stated.
As per Annual Plan document 2015-16 of Union Ministry of Coal, the annual target for overall coal production for 2015-16 has been fixed at 700 million tonnes.
As action plan has also been drawn by Coal India ltd. in this regard to achieve production of 1000 Million tonnes by 2019-20, officials stated.
Agreement for World Bank loan of US $ 1100 million for Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) (Phase-2) have also been signed, officials stated.