Amid reports of the Union Power Ministry shelving the Rs 20,000-crore, 4000 MW Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) in Surguja because of environment clearance tangle, the Chhattisgarh Government on Thursday said that it has not given up hope yet and would extend all support to the Centre for setting up the project.
‘The clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) had not been forthcoming. The Union Power Ministry recently took its proposal for setting up the power project to the Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting but no reply had yet been received on the proposal,’ Secretary, Energy, Aman Kumar Singh told The Pioneer.
He informed that the Chhattisgarh Government would extend all support to the Power Ministry as it was expected to receive 2,000 MW power from the project if commissioned. The project was scheduled to come up in State’s northern coal rich area. The reports say that Central Government dropped the project as
the coal blocks for the proposed project fall under dense forest area and could rake up the environment issue. It may be mentioned here that the the Power Ministry is reported to have shelved its plan to establish a Rs 20,000-crore ultra mega power project at Surguja in Chhattisgarh as the coal blocks for the proposed project fall under dense forest area.