Bengal Clears Plans For 660 MW Supercritical Power Plant, Five Other Electricity Facilities

The West Bengal cabinet on Monday gave its nod to set up a 660-megawatt supercritical electricity plant at Sagardighi in Murshidabad district, Power Minister Arup Biswas said. The cabinet also accepted proposals for building five more power plants.

"We will be setting up a new 660-mega-watt supercritical power plant in Sagardighi. This will be the first such power plant in eastern India. Even the National Thermal Power Corp. or the DVC do not have it," the power minister said after the cabinet meeting.

He said that 95% of the work for the supercritical power plant has been completed. "It will be made of the latest machinery and 95% of its work is complete," Biswas said at the secretariat.

He said that the modern power plant, where less coal would be required to produce more electricity, would be ready by next March.

The cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, also gave its nod to set up a new power plant of 1,600 MW and a global tender will be floated in this regard. We are not taking a single penny from anyone, he said.

It would be the first time that a power plant has been planned based on a PPP model. "We will set up four more power plants and the paperworks for them is being done," he said.

Asked about the location of the 1600 MW power plant, the minister said the company concerned would decide on that and the state government would work accordingly.

The West Bengal government now has power plants at Sagardighi, Bakerswar, Kolghat Bandel and Durgapur.

The cabinet also decided to make 32.43 acres of long-term settlement land and 40.17 acres of old vested land of Shyam Shell and Power Ltd. in Jamuaria in Paschim Bardhaman district freehold and allow them to set up a new project of steel and power plant there.

Meanwhile, the chief minister asked her cabinet colleagues to concentrate more on the flood situation in the state and not on the upcoming Durga Puja festival.

In north Bengal, parts of Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and the entire Malda districts were affected by flood, and all efforts are taken to ensure that relief measures are taken up properly, Chief Secretary Manoj Pant said. The situation will improve as the weather improves, he said.

Water released from Bihar dams enter several districts of West Bengal, Pant said adding," We have sounded an alert for districts of Uttar and Dakshin Dinajpur, Malda and Murshidabad so that all precautionary measures are taken."