Patna, Aug. 6: Bihar has been making desperate attempts to get out of the power crisis which has hampered its growth momentum, especially industry plans.

The state is looking at an additional 440MW of power by the end of October 2012, if things go according to the renovation and modernisation (R&M) schedule prepared for both of its thermal power stations at Kanti and Barauni.

Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel) has been entrusted the job of carrying out renovation and modernisation work of each of the two 2x110MW of thermal power plants at Barauni, the state-owned plant, and Kanti, a joint venture with National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).

“We will complete the R&M work within the time schedule. We will review the progress of renovation work along with Bhel officials and also ask them (Bhel) to expedite the work,” a top Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) official said.

Even the board chairman P.K. Rai, during his presentation at a seminar on power, showed his commitment to complete the work in time.

Of the two plants at Kanti (Muzaffarpur), one is defunct while the other one is generating 70MW against the installed capacity of 110MW. The situation is similar at Barauni (Begusarai) where one plant is defunct and the other one is generating 40MW against the installed capacity of 110MW.

Power generation has been closed in the two plants at Kanti and Barauni since 2003-04.

Bihar government had prepared the R&M plan for Kanti and Barauni plants in 2006-07, requesting the Centre to fund the project. The Centre sanctioned Rs 560 crore which proved too little to carry out the work.

Later, the Centre sanctioned an enhanced sum of Rs 1053 crore for the purpose and after that the actual work was started.

State’s energy minister Vijendra Prasad Yadav had discussed the R&M work with Bhel CMD when he was on state’s visit in January last and asked him to complete the work in time as it has been running three-four months behind the schedule.

Once these plants would start functioning, the state would add a total of 440MW of electricity in its kitty which is crucial for the state’s industrial and agricultural development.

At present, Bihar is heavily dependent on central sector allocation of 1,772MW for meeting its daily energy requirement as its own power generation is almost negligible (around 120MW, including 50MW from hydel).

Bihar, which on an average gets around 1000MW of power from central sector against its scheduled allocation of 1772 MW, has to manage entire state, including earmarking 400MW for Patna and 350MW for essential services like railways, defence, airports, agriculture university, dairy, Buddha tourist circuit and others.

Scanty power availability has, thus, jeopardised the state’s tireless efforts to bring in more private investment.