TS to get a major power boost

KCR zeroes in on Damaracharla; two stations to have an aggregate capacity of 7,600 MW. The Centre had promised as part of bifurcation of the State that it will make NTPC create an additional capacity of 4,000 MW. While 1,600 MW will be added at the existing NTPC station at Ramagundam, the balance 2,400 MW can come up at Damaracharla.

Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao going through maps to understand about lands available at Damarcherla and Mattampally mandals in Nalgonda district on Tuesday. Photo: Singam Venkataramana

The Telangana government has decided to construct two thermal power stations with an aggregate capacity of 7,600 MW at Veerlapalem and Dilawarpur villages of Damaracharla mandal in Nalgonda district.

While the Telangana Generation Corporation will take up a 5,200 MW station, the National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd. will be asked to construct a 2,400 MW station, a release said after Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao undertook an aerial survey of the site.

Mr. Rao, who was accompanied by Ministers and officials, also inspected the place on foot and came to the conclusion that this was the most ideal location for the station. On return to Hyderabad, he discussed finer aspects of the station with Ministers and officials, the release added.

Ideal location

Defending his decision, the Chief Minister said the location was ideal because 7,800 acres of land required for the project was close to river Krishna and a railway track in the area.

However, a hurdle to the setting up of the station was the existence of reserve forest which required forest clearance from the Centre. Therefore, he called up Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar over phone from the meeting and assured the latter that the State government would give equal extent of land elsewhere for the reserve forest to be acquired. Mr. Rao sought early clearance from the Centre.

The release also said Mr. Javadekar promised forest clearance within a week of receiving proposals from the government. Hence, Mr. Rao decided to take the proposals himself to New Delhi in the first week next month. He asked the officials to prepare the proposals and the generation corporation authorities to come up with the detailed project report.

The 7,600 MW power stations in Damaracharla will partly meet the commitment of the Centre to Telangana to enhance its installed generation capacity.

The Centre had promised as part of bifurcation of the State that it will make NTPC create an additional capacity of 4,000 MW. While 1,600 MW will be added at the existing NTPC station at Ramagundam, the balance 2,400 MW can come up at Damaracharla.

The State government proposed to install on its own 6,000 MW, of which 5,200 MW will come up at Damaracharla and the remaining was under construction at Ramanujapalli near Manuguru in Khammam.

Ministers C. Laxma Reddy and G. Jagadish Reddy, Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma, generation corporation chairman D. Prabhakar Rao and Nalgonda Collector Chiranjeevulu were present.