Ranchi, Nov. 3: Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) has sent a fresh proposal to the state government to start an integrated power plant in Godda - the district in Santhal Pargana where its captive thermal power project proposed earlier got scrapped as a consequence of the Coalgate row.

Though, officially, the proposal is under consideration, the government has apparently agreed to sign a fresh MoU for the new power project in this industry-starved region, a focus area of the ruling BJP.

And if sources are to be believed, the state has already asked the company to get a detailed project report prepared by an independent consultant for the same.

JSPL vice-president (corporate affairs) Arun Oraon conceded that the company had requested the state government to sign a fresh MoU for an integrated power project in the district.

"This will be a fresh MoU. We are also in talks with engineering consultation firm, Mecon, for preparing a DPR for the same," Oraon, a former IPS officer, told The Telegraph.

The newly proposed plant will come up at the site of now-scrapped 1320MW captive thermal power plant. The company is already in possession of about 500 acres purchased directly from local villagers there.

These apart, the JSPL vice-president added, the company has also approached the Godda district administration for acquisitions of another 700 acres in the vicinity of the 500-acre site.

"We have requested the government for coal linkages from an agency like Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corporation (JSMDC) or for that matter any subsidiary of CIL," Oraon said.

Company sources said that JSPL might also participate in the auctioning process of the Union coal ministry to get a new block in Jharkhand.

President Pranab Mukherjee had laid the foundation stone for the JSPL's captive thermal power plant in 2013. Under the MoU signed with state government way back around 2004-05, JSPL was given two mines - Jitpur and Amarkonda - in the region for the said project.

However, JSPL lost the mines following a Supreme Court directive last year in the wake of the coal scam that saw the Union government scrapping over 200 blocks across the country earlier this year. Subsequently, the captive thermal power plant was scrapped. Though work on the main plant did not start, the company had constructed boundary walls and some offices there.

Jitpur coal block has now been auctioned out to Adani Group.

JSPL's 1.6 MTPA wire and rod mill is running successfully in Patratu area of Ramgarh district, about 40km from capital Ranchi.

It is a part of the group's 6 MTPA integrated steel mill proposed there.

On the other hand, it has been unable to start its proposed steel plant at Asanboni near Jamshedpur.