Talwandi Sabo plant to cost Rs 9k-cr

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Chandigarh, Sep 2 : Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday laid the foundation stone of the prestigious 1980-mw thermal power plant at Banawali, near Talwandi Sabo. The project, to be built at a basic cost of Rs 9,000-crore and spread across a sprawling 2112 acres of land, would launch the state into the next orbit of super critical power infrastructure in order to boost generation capacity from the 6,200-mw, it had inherited in 2007, to a stunning 18503-mw by 2012.

The Talwandi Sabo plant alone would meet 30% of the current power shortage in the state. It is scheduled to start power generation in 2012. Talking about the details of the Talwandi Sabo project, MP and president of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Sukhbir Singh Badal said, “No other state in the country has so far undertaken such massive and wide-ranging development initiative to boost its power generation by 300% in such a short span. And we are determined to put the requisite infrastructure on the ground well before we go back to the people for a mandate in 2012”.

The government has planned a net addition of 7500-mw of power generation capacity in the next 3-4 years which if achieved would not only help bridge the over 30% present deficit between peak power demand and availability in the state but would also make the state surplus in power for the next decade or so.

The present government has embarked upon setting up a series of new power plants at Talwandi Sabo (1,980-mw), Rajpura (1,320-mw) and Gidderbaha (2,640-mw) to bridge this yawning gap. While land acquisition proceedings in the case of Rajpura are nearing completion, in the case of Gidderbaha plant, notification under Section 4 has been issued earlier in August.

In addition, work on GVK’s Goindwal Sahib (540-mw) thermal plant is also expected to commence in October with land having been acquired and handed over to the company. The next four-five months would be witness to the commencement of work on all these power projects. The Phase-IV of Lehra Mohabbat thermal plant (250-mw) is presently undergoing trials and is likely to enter commercial production by October. In addition, the state has already inked agreements to secure over 4,500-mw of power as its share in Central power projects as well as from independent power producers.