The timelines set for ultra mega power project of NTPC at Pudimadaka, about 60 km from here, are going haywire with inordinate delay in allotment of long-term coal linkage for the single largest industrial investment of the State post-bifurcation.
Even after holding public hearing on August 12 last year, there is no progress in the project except acquiring 1,200 acres from the AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation.
The project envisaged with an investment of ₹ 26,500 crore to generate 4x1,000 MW is scheduled to be fully commissioned by 2019. However, the proposal to allot coal blocks in Ranigunj Coalfields has not materialised yet. NTPC request for allotment of an additional land of 1,000 acres for construction of ash dyke is also awaiting approval by the State government.
The ultra mega power project was designed to generate power with 100 per cent imported coal. The EIA study was also made based on that. Sources told The Hindu that the glut situation arising out of surplus power production pan India and industrial slump may result in further delay in grounding the project.
The directive to meet its raw material requirement from coal produced within the country was made to save foreign exchange following increase in production of domestic coal by Union Power Minister Piyush Goel at a review meeting held in the presence of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu here early this year.
The proposal for construction of a jetty by involving Visakhapatnam Port Trust to receive coal near the project site is also awaiting sanction from the Centre as well as the State government.
When contacted, a senior official said they would go ahead with tender finalisation and other formalities once they received coal linkage and statutory clearances from the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
