For power-starved Uttar Pradesh, there is some good news at last.

The Rosa thermal power project in Shahajahanpur, being set up by the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group, will commence generation in November, five months ahead of schedule.

To begin with, a 300 MW unit of the plant will start generation. The capacity of the plant, which is the first private sector power project in the northern region, is 1,200 MW. It is being set up at an estimated cost of Rs 2,641 crore.

"We want them to start generation at the earliest and give us power in October," said Navneet Sehgal, Chairman and Managing Director of the UP Power Corporation Ltd. (UPPCL). "They have assured to start the plant's trial run by the first week of November and we hope to add 300 MW power to the state's grid," Sehgal added.

The UPPCL is the sole procurer of the power generated from the first phase of the Rosa power project. The purchase agreement comes into force from March 31, 2010.

The power plant is a new addition to the state after a long time.

In 2007, there was an addition of 250 MW to the generation capacity when a unit was added to the Paricha thermal plant. And in 1994, 500 MW was added when Anpara B was commissioned.

The Rosa project is being implemented in two phases. In first phase, by March 2010, two units of 300 MW capacity each are expected to commence commercial generation. Two other units of 300 MW capacity each are expected to be completed by March 2012. The state's share in the total power generated will be 900 MW. The rest will be marketed by the power generator in the open market as per the provisions of "open access regime" under the Indian Electricity Act of 2003.

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