NTPC sees chokepoint in Chhattisgarh project

Bottlenecks continue to delay the Sipat project with NTPC now having reservations on giving a fresh application to the Chhattisgarh government...

Bottlenecks continue to delay the Sipat project with NTPC now having reservations on giving a fresh application to the Chhattisgarh government for restoring water supply to the project. The state government had in September cancelled the earlier allocation of water from the Hasdeo-Bango dam which in effect stopped power generation from unit 4 of the plant and has delayed the commissioning of unit 5 of the same plant. Both these units have a capacity of 500 mw each.

After having initially agreed to supply water, the state government said that NTPC should rather source water from the Mahanadi river as supply of water

from the dam would deprive irrigation to around 60,000 acres of land in Chhattisgarh. Added to this the state government also asked for greater share of power from the “regional” plant and wanted the power company to put in place a proper mechanism to take care of the project affected people (PAP).

Chief minister Raman Singh had raised this issue with the union power ministry and even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last month. A few days back, the state government along with the Union power ministry worked out a compromise to revive the Sipat project which, apart from others, included restoring water supply to it according to the original plan.

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According to the agreement with the state — which is still temporary in nature — while the central water commission would look into the possibility of sourcing water from the Mahanadi river, the state agreed to supply water to power units from the dam until this task was complete. However, the state government asked NTPC to put in a fresh application for this.

Senior officials at the Centre told The Indian Express that NTPC has expressed some legal reservations on putting in a fresh application as this could mean that the state government may want to renegotiate rates (and possibly even the quantity) with the power company. But more importantly, they said that this could start a precedence where other states also start doing the same with the central power PSU — that is going back on already agreed commitments.

It needs to be mentioned that the 2,980 mw Sipat project is already running behind schedule. Apart from looking at the possibility of sourcing water from the Mahanadi river, Centre has also agreed to explore the possibility of hiking the state’s share of power from the Sipat project ( by around 75 mw) — this is over and above the allocation where states of that region are apportioned power from the project according the Gadgil formula. Furthermore, under the compromise, NTPC has also agreed to work out a mechanism to train a certain number of PAP. While there are no differences on hike in allocation and on training of PAP, there’s a feeling that the state government should not insist on a fresh application for water supply. The Sipat project is the same NTPC project where one of the turbines for the plant was lying by the roadside in Kasara ghat for nearly nine months.