Slow Land Acquisition Stymies NTPC's Odisha Projects

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources India (Delhi, India)--Power projects in Odisha belonging to India's state-owned power enterprise NTPC Limited (BSE: 532555) (New Delhi, India) hit a major roadblock as the power major has yet to acquire the land for two 1,600-megawatt (MW) projects proposed to be developed in the eastern Indian state. NTPC requires about 1,078 hectares of land for setting up these two supercritical technology-based projects in the Sundergarh and Dhenkanal districts of the state.

Approximately 668 hectares of land is needed for the Darlipalli project in the Sundergarh district, while the land requirement for the Gajamara project in the Dhenkanal district requires 410 hectares. NTPC claims to have made substantial progress in acquiring land and expects to obtain physical possession by June 2012, but given the procedural delay in allocation of land in the state and the lengthy process of rehabilitation and resettlement, acquisition of the requisite land is unlikely to be completed any time soon.

Both the projects would have capacities of 3,200 MW each, with each unit having four 800-MW units that will be constructed in two phases of 1,600 MW capacity each. NTPC has completed the evaluation of the bid for the steam turbine-generator (STG) package for these projects. The award of the contracts is still being held up due to the delay in the completion of land acquisition.

In early 2011, NTPC had invited bids for a total of nine 800-MW supercritical STG units, consisting of two units each for the Darlipalli and Gajamara projects in Odisha, another two units for the 5x800-MW Lara project in Chattisgarh and the remaining three units are to be procured for the initial 2,400-MW stage of the 5x800-MW Kudgi project in Karnataka.

According to sources, the proposal for land acquisition for the Darlipalli project has been recommended by the Odisha's Department of Energy to the state's revenue department, although a similar move from the state for the Gajamara project is still awaited.

The Darlipalli project will draw water from the Hirakud reservoir on the Mahanadi River. NTPC has secured a coal linkage for this project from the Dulanga coal block, under the command area of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) in Odisha and Pakri Barwadih block in the Hazaribagh district of Bihar.

With an installed capacity of 37,514 MW, NTPC is the largest power-generating firm in the country, accounting for 19.34% of the country's total generation base. Presently, NTPC generates power primarily from coal and gas. The company is diversifying into hydropower, coal mining and power equipment manufacturing. NTPC currently operates 15 coal-fired plants, seven gas-fired plants and six power stations in a joint venture with other public sector companies.

NTPC has projects totaling to a capacity of 14,088 MW under various stages of construction. Equipment for another 16,192 MW is under the tendering process, while it plans to award orders for 40,000 MW of equipment during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17).

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