Manipur to get 42 MW power: Tripura project to ease power crisis in NE
Source: The Sangai Express / Agencies

Agartala, June 22 2013 : Power generation capacity in the North East has increased by almost 13 percent with ONGC Power Tripura Company com-missioning the first unit of the region's single largest 363 MW gas fired thermal project at Palatana in Tripura near the Bangladesh border.

Manipur is said to get 42 MW power from the thermal project.

ONGC's first project will cater to seven out of the eight states in the region suffering from a power shortage.

By August, ONGC Power plans to double plant capacity by adding one more unit to make Tripura the largest power producer in the region.

President Pranab Mukher-jee inaugurated the first unit of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp's (ONGC) mega power project built at a cost of Rs 3,804 crore yesterday.

The first unit of the 726.6 MW gas-based power plant at Palatana near here has started generating electricity and the second 363.3 MW unit is expected to commence operation in August.

"We are committed to explore more oil and gas resources in the North East and will try to use the resources locally.

ONGC is exploring possibility of commissioning 1.3 million tonnes of urea project at an investment of 5,000 crore in Tripura by 2017," said ONGC CMD Sudhir Vasudeva while commissioning the first unit of the 726 MW project built at an investment of Rs 3,804 crore.

According to the state-owned firm, the power project combined with linked transmission project and upstream gas supply network has attracted investments of around Rs 10,000 crore in the region.

The project, initiated in 2005, has been delayed due to complications in project tendering and challenges in transporting the equipment in the hilly region.

It was initiated to utilise natural gas locally as there was no local demand for it and it unable to monetise the same due to geographical limitations.

At a time a majority of gas based power projects are ailing in the country, ONGC Power is confident that the Palatana Project, which will receive fuel from ONGC at a firm price with extension of 4% a year over the long term, will help reduce the power crisis in the region.

Assam will get the maximum share of 240 MW of electricity followed by Tripu-ra (196 MW), Meghalaya (79 MW), Manipur (42 MW), Nagaland (27 MW), Mizoram (22 MW) and Arunachal Pra-desh (22 MW), while Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL & FS) and ONGC Tripura Power Company (OTPC) keep 98 MW.

These states have formed a transmission company in partnership with Power Grid Corporation to evacuate the power.

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