CM to launch power plant

The first unit of the Adhunik Group plant in Seraikela-Kharsawan will be commissioned on October 16

Jamshedpur, Oct. 10: Chief minister Arjun Munda will inaugurate the first unit of a 1,080MW thermal power project of Adhunik Group — a plan that promises to bring Jharkhand closer to the target of a power-surplus state — in Seraikela-Kharsawan on October 16.

Adhunik Power & Natural Resources Ltd (APNRL), a wing of the Calcutta-based group, will become the first company in the sector to honour its MoU signed with the state government once it commissions the plant at Padampur, situated about 20km from Jamshedpur in Gamharia block.

Manoj Agarwal, the managing director of Adhunik Group’s flagship company Adhunik Metaliks Ltd, said, “I am happy that the chief minister has given his consent to inaugurate the power plant. The plant will prove to be a milestone in the industrial development of Jharkhand.”

The plant has been planned in phases. It has four units each of 270MW capacity. The company has earmarked around Rs 5,600 crore for the entire project, while the first unit entailed an investment of Rs 3,250 crore.

According to Agarwal, the objective of establishing the power plant was to meet the growing need of power for industries in Jharkhand.

“We are a power deficit state, despite being rich in minerals. Inadequate power is affecting industrialisation. We are hopeful that commissioning of the power project will help overcome the problem,” he said, adding the first phase of the project was being commissioned within schedule.

According to the MoU, 25 per cent of the power produced by the company will be supplied to Jharkhand State Electricity Board. The state power utility will get 67MW out of the first unit of 270MW, while it will receive 130MW from the 540MW by March 2013.

APNRL had signed an MoU with the state government on October 31, 2005.

The company has also signed an agreement with Bengal government for supplying 100MW from the first unit.

“The first phase of the project has been funded by a consortium of lenders led by State Bank of India,” said Naresh Goyal, the head of the plant.

He said BHEL was supplying the boiler turbine generator — the most important component of a power plant.

Goyal said in the first phase, the company would require 2.8 million tonnes of coal annually. For this, the company has been allocated the Ganeshpur coal block in Latehar, jointly with Tata Steel.