The closing ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne depicts the next games to be held in Delhi in 2010. (PTI file picture)

Jamshedpur, May 5: Power from Jharkhand will light up Delhi during the Commonwealth Games 2010.

Maithon Power Company (MPC), a joint venture (JV) between Tata Power and Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), will provide the power to Delhi before the Games begin so that the national capital can meet its demand in this sector.

Tata Power and DVC have already signed a formal agreement for the formation of Maithon power project, which is estimated to cost over Rs 4,100 crore. The production capacity of this coal-based project is about 1,000 MW. Tata Power and DVC have 74 per cent and 26 per cent stake, respectively, in the JV. The director of Tata Power, S. Ramakrishnan, has been appointed the chairman of MPC.

Sources in the state energy ministry said that MPC has set a deadline of starting production before the Commonwealth Games kicks off in Delhi, to provide power to the national capital. ?The demand for power in Delhi is going to rise significantly as infrastructure like hotels, stadiums, sports villages, shopping malls etc. are being planned there. MPC will make power available to Delhi,? energy department officials added.

With Tata Power already having a distribution licence in Delhi, officials believe, it would not be a problem to distribute power from its Maithon project. ?It will be decided later how much power will be given for the Games. But, it will of good quantity. Only a part of it would be taken by DVC and Tata Power for their own consumption,? said sources in Tata Power.

MPC, meanwhile, requires 1,100 acre to set up a plant and dump the ash. ?We have acquired about 50 per cent of the land for the project. Exercise is on to acquire the rest of the land,? company sources said.

Sources in the state energy department say the company wants to complete the acquisition as soon as possible, so that it can start work on the plant. ?We are hopeful of acquiring total land within the next six months, after which we will be able to start work to set up the plant,? the sources added.