Patna, April 16: The Centre has given in principle approval for setting up an additional thermal power plant of 660MW capacity at Nabinagar.

On January 28, chief minister Nitish Kumar had laid the foundation at Nabinagar for setting up a 1,980MW thermal power plant after clearing land acquisition hurdles.

Nabinagar Power Generating Company (NPGC) Private Limited, a 50:50 joint venture between National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB), is in the process of developing a power project near Majhiyan village and Ankorha railway station.

The NPGC started the work to set up three units of 660MW (1,980MW) in stage I. The three units would start generating power in phases about four-and-a-half years from now. On the other hand, the NPGC would set up two units of 660MW (1,320MW) in stage II.

The Centre has asked the NTPC to explore the feasibility whether or not a third unit could be set up at the same site in stage II.

“The central government has given in principle approval for setting up a sixth unit at Nabinagar. The state government had submitted a proposal to Union power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde during his visit to Patna,” energy department principal secretary Ajay Naik said.

On the sixth unit, Naik said the NTPC was yet to communicate the details of the project to the state government. “As of now, I can’t say anything about the cost involved in the third unit (of stage II) or any other details.”

However, a top board official said: “No details about the third unit in the second stage could be said right now as the central government has just asked the NTPC to make a probability check whether or not the third unit could be set up in the second stage.”

Sources, however, said since the stage I that comprises three units of 660MW, entails an investment of about Rs 15,000 crore, it is natural that the stage II, which would also have three units, would entail more than Rs 15,000 crore investment.

Asked about the progress of the stage I plant, which is crucial for energy security for power-starved Bihar, board spokesman H.R. Pandey said: “The work is going on in full swing. The site-levelling and boundary wall work are being carried out.”

However, Arun Kumar Singh, the president of Vishthapit Kisan Mazdoor Kalyan Samiti of NPGC, told The Telegraph over phone from Nabinagar: “The work of site-levelling is being carried out on 1,800 acres and not on the remaining 1,000 acres because of farmers’ non-co-operation. They are opposing the district and NPGC administration’s proposal of signing an agreement that takes away their right to file case in the court in the event of farmers not getting adequate compensation.”

The agreement states that the farmers’ next generation cannot make any claim over the land acquisition which, virtually, takes away their right to approach the court, Singh said, adding that they want the plant but their rights should not be hampered.

The work on stage I, whose first unit of 660MW is to be commissioned after 54 months from now and other two units at six-month intervals, started in January with the resolution of land acquisition problem. Because of the problem, the project could not make any headway in the past one year even after bhumi pujan (foundation laying ceremony), following a marathon meeting between the farmers’ delegation of the area and Nitish.