Essar Power starts Tori plant work

RANCHI: Despite all odds, another big-ticket firm Essar Power has started construction work of its ambitious 1,200MW power plant at Tori in Latehar district.
Before Essar Power, the only major investor which pumped in money in this Maoist-hit district, was Abhijeet Group's Corporate Power, which is constructing 1080MW (4X270) power plant at Chandwa.A spokesperson for Essar Power said the project was a pit-head power plant of 1,200MW (600X2) capacity. The plant will be constructed in two phases of 600MW each and will get coal from Chakla and Ashoka Karkata blocks.
"Construction work for the first phase has already started and it is going on in full wing. If things move smoothly, the first phase of 600MW will be commissioned by late 2012," said the spokesperson. Sources in the company said the plant would come up on around 1000 acres with an investment of around Rs 5,000 crore. It is expected that around 5,000 people will get direct and indirect employment when the plant becomes functional.
Latehar deputy commissioner Rahul Purwar is hopeful that the place which is now infamous for wrong reasons will transform into one of the important business centres and contribute in making Jharkhand a power-surplus state. "Once the two power projects are ready, allied industries like cement and brick will also come up and more people will get employment," said Purwar. "We expect some good institutions will also come up in the area to meet the need of education for employees of the companies."