NTPC asked to scale down North Karanpura project

While NTPC insisted that it has invested nearly Rs 250 crore on the project,CIL argues that the project sits above a six billion tonne coal reserve,which can fire power turbines to produce over 50,000 MW of electricity.

With coal and power ministries strongly supporting their respective PSUs,the GoM had shouldered the onus of sorting out the contentious issue.

The GoM constituted a committee under Planning Commission member B K Chaturvedi,which in its recent report suggested that NTPC could either be asked to re-locate its project or it should be allowed to proceed ahead with a reduced land size of 970 acres,which should cover 500 acres of ash disposal area against 1,500 acres originally planned.

The GoM,while accepting the second alternative today,also asked NTPC to scale down the capacity of the plant from 1,980 MW to 1,320 MW. The inter-ministerial body said once the plant life expires (after 25-30 years),the entire area would be handed over to CIL to commence underground coal mining. NTPC has also been asked not to construct colonies adjacent to the plant.