Team News Riveting
New Delhi, February 28
The first unit of the 1980 MW North Karanpura Super Thermal Power Station of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in Jharkhand started the commercial operation; almost 24 years after the project was conceived.
“First unit of 660 MW capacity of North Karanpura Super Thermal Power Station (3×660 MW) is declared on Commercial Operation w.e.f. 00:00 Hrs. of 01.03.2023,” NTPC said in a regulatory filing today. With this, standalone and group commercial capacity of NTPC will become 58979 MW and 71594 MW respectively.
North Karanpura Thermal Power Station is an upcoming coal-based thermal power plant located in Tandwa in the Simaria sub-division of the Chatra district in Jharkhand. The project is fully owned by NTPC Limited.
The planned capacity of the power plant is 1980 MW with three units of 660 MW each.
The project was originally proposed in 1999 and the then Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee, laid the foundation stone for the station. The state-run Coal India Limited (CIL) however objected to the location of the power plant and wanted NTPC to relocate the project. The CIL was looking to explore coal mining in the site having an estimated 6 billion tonnes of dry fuel underneath it.
CIL withdrew the coal linkage to the plant in 2008. The Government of India finally decided in 2013 February against the relocation and in 2013 July, the coal linkage for the plant was restored.
After the BJP-government came to power in the Centre, the proposal was revived and Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid a fresh foundation stone in August 2014.
