Jamshedpur, Dec. 14: The state can look forward to overcoming power shortage by 2011.

Adhunik Power and Natural Resources Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Adhunik Group of Industries, has set a 2011 date for commissioning a 540MW power plant at Padampur, under Gamharia block of Seraikela-Kharsawan district. The thermal power plant is a part of the 1,000MW-power project, which the company has planned in phases.

Company officials said that work has been undertaken on war-footing for the completion of the first phase on time. Jharkhand will become a power surplus state once the power project is commissioned. The state requires about 800MW electricity, whereas the present generation capacity is about 500MW.

The company has signed MoUs with the Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Bihar governments for setting up the 1,000MW thermal power plant. While work at the Gamharia project has begun, the ones at Bihar and Chhattisgarh await coal linkages and land acquisition nod.

Adhunik Group of Industries director Nirmal Agarwal, who laid the foundation stone for the boiler plant at the project site today, said this marked a step ahead in meeting the energy requirement of this region.

Agarwal expressed hope that the thermal power project would go a long way to meet the energy requirements of the state, especially for industrial activities.

“I am confident that the company’s workforce is capable of adopting the new ideas and equipment. I am also confident that the new power plant will be a boon for the entire state,” Agarwal said, while addressing a gathering at the foundation stone laying ceremony.

P.K. Mitra, the vice-president (projects), while speaking on the occasion, observed that the company’s growth rate was satisfactory. The laying of the foundation stone of the two boilers, having a capacity of 270MW each, was an example of this growth rate.

Mitra revealed that the work in the technical site will be taken up on urgent basis and turbines will be installed within three months.

A company spokesperson said that the main aim of establishing the thermal power project was to cater to the growing requirements of electricity by industries in the Singhbhum-Kolhan region.

“Jharkhand is a power deficit state, and despite being rich in minerals, it is lagging behind in industrialisation, as absence of adequate power is a great problem for industrialisation. But once the Adhunik project is through, the state will certainly have surplus power,” said the spokesperson.

The thermal power project is going to be a milestone in the industrialisation of the state. It will also add to the revenue earning of the state. nSee Page 18