Ranchi, Feb. 21: PSU giant National Thermal Power Station (NTPC) may take over the state's oldest thermal plant at Patratu in Ramgarh district by the end of this fiscal, paving the way for a turnaround of the ageing utility.

A high-powered committee today agreed to undertake field inspections at Patratu Thermal Power Station (PTPS) and determine modalities for a joint-venture agreement at the earliest before announcing a formal date for signing an MoU between the state government and NTPC.

Chaired by chief secretary Rajiv Gauba, the meeting was attended by NTPC chairman Arup Roy Choudhury, state energy secretary S.K.G. Rahate and other senior officials at the state secretariat Project Bhavan.

'We intend to sign an MoU with NTPC before March 31 this year,' Rahate told The Telegraph, emerging from the meeting that spanned over two-and-a-half hours.

Stressing the need for improving generation and ensuring supply of quality and uninterrupted power in the state, Rahate said the current average output from PTPS was not more than 15 per cent of its installed capacity.

'It is, therefore, our endeavour to work out ways to put PTPS back on track. Only a power giant like NTPC has the required expertise to turn around an ageing plant like PTPS. We are actively considering handing over PTPS to NTPC under a joint venture agreement,' the state energy secretary added.

However, before a formal joint venture agreement is signed, a series of studies are to be carried out to ascertain availability of land at PTPS, current condition of various generating units, facilities for future expansion, power tariff, duties and responsibilities of the two parties, power sharing etc.

'We intend to sign the MoU for forming a joint venture for PTPS before March 31 this year. Thus, all these studies will be completed within a definite time frame so that the process to hand over the PTPS's ownership to NTPC can be started at the earliest,' Rahate said.

Ten units make up PTPS, currently being run by Jharkhand Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (JUVNL). Whilst six units were set up in collaboration with the Czech Republic and are over 54 years old, the remaining four units were set up by Bharat Heavy Electricals around 35 years ago. Total installed capacity of PTPS is 840MW, against which average generation varies between 50 and 120MW on any given day. Records reveal that the efficiency of PTPS has declined from 20.7 in 2000-01 to around 12 per cent now.