Ranchi, Feb. 26: Nobody from the state government was present today at a meeting on “Strengthening the power sector in Jharkhand”, convened by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Chief secretary M.K. Mandal, who is due to retire the day after tomorrow, duly made an appearance in the morning and left after calling for “quality power at competitive rates”.

They missed listening to S.K. Prasad, a general manager with NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation), who gave vent to the unit’s frustration at its ambitious power project in the state getting delayed. Prasad had made a similar presentation at the CM’s residence on January 22 but with no visible effect. NTPC is committed to invest Rs 10,000 crore to set up a plant with an installed capacity to generate 1,980 MW of power.

Is this the way to treat an investor, which is committed to make the investment, Prasad appeared to ask as he launched into a litany of the hurdles the project is faced with. He appeared truly baffled at the state government’s lack of response to NTPC’s offer of assistance to build up infrastructure in the Karnapura valley.

The project has made virtually no headway since 2004, when NTPC handed over the first instalment of money to enable the state government to acquire land. Although Rs 43 crore had been given to the government, the money is yet to be disbursed among land-owners even as files moved back and forth between the district headquarters and the state capital for “clarifications”.

While the project requires 2,112 acres, only 63 acres have been acquired.