The awards are given every year to the powers stations by the Ministry of Energy.

The GEB bagged the award for its Wanakbori, Dhuvaran, Gandhinagar, Sikka and Uttaran power stations. The award and cash prize totalling Rs 43.22 lakh were given away by Union Power Minister P R Kumarmangalam.

Board chairman Nalin Bhatt said that against the target of producing 3299 MW power in 1998-99, the Board has achieved 4242 MW power production.

Bhatt said the success was due to the joint effort of all the Board employees. He said the idea of giving the awards is to infuse a spirit of competition among the power stations and encourage them to get maximum production from old units.

For 1996-97, the Sikka Power Station has received Rs 4.28 lakh, a shield and a bronze medal. Dhuvaran has received Rs 6.89 lakh.

For 1995-96, Dhuvaran got Rs 5.76 lakh and Ukai Rs 7.28 lakh. Gandhinagar Power Station has received Rs 9.18 lakh apart from shield and bronze medal.

In 1996, Sikka received Rs 7.53 lakh for considerably reducing its oil consumption.

Those who attended the presentation ceremony include Board Member (Technical) P C Patel, Executive Director S N Pancholi and Chief Engineer of Wanakbori Power Station G N Shah.