Chhatisgarh, Gujarat to set up 500 mw power plant

vadodara: a new company, chhatisgarh gujarat power generation company, has been formed to set up a rs 2,500 crore 500 mw coal-based thermal power station near pit-head coal mines in chhatisgarh . the production cost works out to rs 5 crore per mega watt. with a contribution of rs 50 lakh each state, the company has been registered and would begin the work soon.talking to tnn, chhatisgarh state electricity board chairman gopal tiwari said he had requested the gujarat energy minister kaushik patel to speed up the work on this power station . the project was conceptualised states when chhatisgarh chief minister ajit jogi visited gujarat last year after the earthquake. he had made this offer of setting up the unit in chhatisgarh as coal mines would be close to the site. in fact, chhatisgarh had made similar offers to karnataka, delhi and others. gujarat was the first state to respond positively to this offer. during his visit to raipur this week, kaushik patel will discuss the modalities and finalise the site. patel told tnn that he has requested the union coal minister to suggest an apt site for this project. officials in gujarat feel that setting up the station near pithead of coal mines in chhatisgarh will ensure not only availability of coal but ensure its good quality and curb pilferage, too. with limited hydro-power potential, gujarat has to depend on thermal power projects. the quality of coal received at wanakbori, ukai, gandhinagar and other stations is poor. moreover the freight cost enhances the power generation cost. that is why gujarat had demanded a policy on rationalisation of freight on indigenous coal and duty structure on imported coal. the fuel cost per unit of coal-based units of the gujarat electricity board (geb) is much higher when compared to maharashtra and madhya pradesh boards because the average distance of coal transportation is 1300 kms. earlier, geb had been getting coal from western coal-fields limited for ukai thermal power station, 700 km away. it was discontinued by the railways thereby increasing transportation cost burden of rs 100 crore per annum. for the same quantity of coal transportation geb pays rs 740 crores and rs 959 crores more compared to maharashtra and madhya pradesh boards respectively.