Amid ruckus created by various political parties and heat generated by activists over alleged attempts made to close down the NTPC-BHEL Power Projects Limited (NBPPL) plant located at Mannavaram in Srikalahasti mandal and shift it out of Andhra Pradesh, the company has condemned the same in a guarded manner.
The company encountered several teething troubles right from its start, but the economic glut and global slowdown had a telling effect on its fortunes.
The issues that surfaced in the allocation of coal blocks and the Central Government's policy shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources affected the entire power sector, which apparently cast a shadow on the NBPPL too.
As the nation is marching towards reducing its carbon footprint, the perceptible change in the accepted levels of emission is also giving prominent focus to solar power projects at the cost of thermal power.
Political outcry
Notwithstanding the political outcry, the Mannavaram plant has been silently executing orders it has received from its parent companies NTPC and BHEL, apart from AP Genco.
The plant has bagged several orders to be executed on Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) basis, including the Feroz Gandhi Unchahar Thermal Power Project in Rae Bareily district of Uttar Pradesh. The 500 MW plant will be ready next year.
The company originally envisaged production of Boiler Turbines Generators (BTG), but due to the hostile market conditions, it confined to Balance of Plant such as coal-handling, ash-handling and water treatment plants. It is seriously scouting for buyers even for the same.
It could not get its own product in the Unchahar project due to tighter delivery schedules. “Even today, the company is doing fabrication at Mannavaram and providing spares on order to the parent companies as well as AP Genco, Tata Projects etc.,” a company official said on condition of anonymity. As the EPC projects are executed elsewhere, there is not much development ‘on the field’ and it is this absence of activity that grabbed the attention of politicians, who raised a hue and cry.
Following the dharna by former Member of Parliament Chinta Mohan, MLC Y. Srinivasulu Reddy announced the holding of a 30-hour fast in Tirupati on Friday. “This is a grave injustice to our State. If the government does not come up with a satisfactory answer, we will take a padayatra up to the factory with 10,000 people”, he said.
