Contrary to reports of shifting of the NTPC’s Gajamara project in Odisha’s Dhnkanal district to Madhya Pradesh, Regional Executive Director of the power major Malvinder Singh Soin has requested the Odisha Government to expedite the land acquisition process for the project.
Soin in a recent letter to Energy Commissioner-cum-Secretary PK Jena has made the request. Accordingly, Jena has asked the officials in the Department of Energy to expedite the process so that the NTPC authorities take up work on the project in right earnest.
A recent media report had said that bureaucratic bottlenecks were among the chief reasons behind the NTPC’s decision to shift the project to Gadarwara in Madhya Pradesh.
The two-phase 1,600-MW project, to be built at an estimated cost of Rs 11,400 crore, would be undertaken, asserted an official who is aware of the developments in the NTPC.
The Section -4(1) for 796 acre of private land required for the project was issued for the second time in June 2012. The Section -6 notifications would be issued soon, said sources in the Government. The NTPC has targeted to complete the project in 2017, but it would be delayed due to various reasons, the sources felt.
However, Jena has also discussed the issue with senior officials of the Department of Revenue and is hopeful about an early settlement of the land acquisition issue, said the sources.
In the meantime, Chief Secretary BK Patnaik has convened a meeting of senior officials to review the developments of the Darlipalli project of NTPC on May 1, said an official.
The NTPC has proposed to set up another 1,600-MW project at Darlipalli in Sundargarh district with an investment of Rs 12,850 crore.
For this project, the NTPC has got physical possession of 90.66 acres of private land at Raidihi village and 1,115.46 acres at Darlipalli. The balance 69.11 acres at Darlipalli village, 338 acres of Government land and diversion of 34.47 acre of forestland are essential for the project.
At this high-level meeting, the issue of land acquisition for the Gajamara project would also crop up, said the official.