With glut situation in the power sector and growing thrust to produce solar power keeping in view the cost advantage and criticism over fossil fuel pollution due to thermal power generation, the super thermal power project proposed at Pudimadaka with single largest investment in Andhra Pradesh post-bifurcation may not see the light of the day.
While NTPC officials have declined to comment due to apparent reasons, two MPs of BJP and TDP have told The Hindu that the 4x1000 MW project has been unofficially shelved.
While Vizag MP and State BJP president K. Haribabu has said due to changed circumstances, the project will not materialise, Anakapalle MP and TDP leader Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao has admitted that despite keenness by both Centre and State, the glut situation has made the Pudimadaka project ‘unviable.’
Application pending
NTPC’s application for coal block from East Coast Coalfields is pending before the Ministry of Coal for long. The Ranigunj block from where coal linkage has been sought has reserves of 63 million tonne.
The public hearing for Pudimadaka project envisaged with an investment of ₹26,828 crore was held in August, 2015.
The State government, which accorded fast-track status to the project, allotted 1200 acres at Pudimadaka, about 60 km from here through APIIC and the project proponent immediately paid the amount towards land and built the boundary wall.
The project was originally conceived to generate power with imported coal. However, Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal directed NTPC in January, 2016 to redesign the project to generate power with domestic coal to save foreign exchange. “This could be one of the reasons for the project hitting a roadblock,” an insider points out.
Enquiries in NTPC, the leader in thermal power generation, have revealed that the company is also according priority to solar power as the Centre during the budget statement of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for 2017-18 decided to increase solar power generation from 20 to 40 giga watts. India’s target for 2022 is to produce 100 GW of solar power.
The solar grid has a cumulative capacity of 12.5 GW as on April 30, 2017. The country’s total installed capacity is 329.23 GW of which renewable energy contributes 30.8%.