Kokrajhar, March 2: In another step towards commissioning of the much-delayed 750MW Bongaigaon thermal power project at Salakati in Kokrajhar, steam blowing started in the first unit of the plant yesterday.

Expressing happiness at the achievement, group general manager, NTPC Bongaigaon, Utpal Chakrabarti, Chakrabarti said they were committed to commission the first unit this year.

The plant has three units of 250MW each.

Steam blowing, done in different stages to clean the pipes supplying steam to turbine, will take around 15 to 20 days to complete, followed by synchronisation of the first unit.

A senior official of the project said works like the steam generator (boiler), turbine, coal handling plant, condenser, cooling tower chimney, steam water, tunnel, generator and switch yard and staff quarters were either completed or in the final stages.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had laid the foundation stone of the Rs 4,720-crore project in January 2006, on the premises of the defunct thermal power station of the Assam State Electricity Board. According to the original schedule, two units of the project were slated to be commissioned in 2011-12.

The project will use coal from Makum coalmines in Margherita of Assam and eastern coalfields spread over West Bengal and Jharkhand.