Chief minister Nitish Kumar greets NTPC chairman-cum-managing director Arup Roy Choudhury (left) at 1 Aney Marg on Wednesday. Telegraph picture

Patna, May 30: Chief minister Nitish Kumar today asked NTPC to expedite its upcoming thermal power projects in the state and complete them within respective deadlines.

Nitish, along with NTPC chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) Arup Roy Choudhury, reviewed the progress work, as well as the problems, at various power project sites. “The CM asked the top NTPC officials to speed up the work to complete them on time,” energy minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav, who was present during the meeting, told The Telegraph.

Earlier in the day, Choudhury met the chief minister at the latter’s official residence 1, Aney Marg. The meeting was attended among others by Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) chairman P.K. Rai, NTPC director (human resources) S.P. Singh and NTPC regional director Umesh Prasad Pani. Choudhury briefed the chief minister about the stages of various power plants.

The NTPC is in the process of setting up several power plants in Bihar. The power major, in association with BSEB, is in the process of constructing two power plants at Nabinagar (3,300MW) and Muzaffarpur (390MW).

The chief minister had in January last laid the foundation of three units of 660MW (1,980MW) at Nabinagar in Aurangabad district under Stage I. In the next phase, two more units of super thermal power plants would be set up in the area. Bihar would get a share of 69 per cent from the plant.

Similarly, NTPC and BSEB would set up two units of 195MW each at Kanti in Muzaffarpur district.

Besides, NTPC and Indian Railways are jointly setting up another 1,000MW power plant at Nabinagar, in which the state would have a share of 10 per cent (100MW). The plant is likely to become operational in 2014.

It is setting up 3,300MW of power plant at Barh on its own. The Barh plant would be set up in two phases — the Phase I would have three units of 660MW and the Phase II, which would come up first, would have two units of 660MW.

Nitish, who made an on-the-site inspection of the second phase of Barh super thermal power plant on May 21, also directed the power major officials to speed up the work to make both the units of 660MW capacity plants (2x660 MW=1,320MW) operational by the end of the current financial year. According to the schedule of the second phase of Barh plant, the first unit would be commissioned by June 2013 and the second unit would become operational by September 2014.

Nitish’s seriousness vis-a-vis the Barh plant could be gauged from the fact that the Centre has accepted the state’s demand of 50 per cent of allocation from the second phase of the 1,320MW thermal unit.

Union power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had on March 20 assured the state government that the Centre would allocate 50 per cent of power to Bihar from NTPC’s Barh phase II plant.

This means that the state would get 660MW power from two units (660MWx2) of 1,320MW in the second phase, which would be commissioned by the end of 2013-14.