UP Cabinet’s nod to two 800 MW 'Obra D' thermal power projects

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India] July 11 : As part of its ongoing efforts to provide cheap electricity to people of Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led government on Tuesday approved two 'Obra D' thermal power projects of 800MW each to be built at the cost of Rs 18,000 crore in Sonbhadra’s Obra.
The Obra D thermal power plants were approved during the Council of Ministers’ meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanah at Lok Bhavan on Tuesday.
It is worth mentioning here that the agreement was signed by the Yogi Government and the NTPC during the Global Investors Summit, held in Lucknow in February this year.
The projects will be executed by the government in 50-50 partnership with National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC). While 30 percent equity will be given for the implementation of the projects, the rest 70 percent of the amount will be arranged from financial institutions.
The specialty of Obra D thermal power plants is that it will be the first ever ultra super critical unit in the state. The plant will boast of state-of-the-art technology and high efficiency, with low consumption of coal, bringing down the cost of power generation, which will lead to slashing of electricity rates in UP.
Informing about the decisions of the Council of Ministers, Urban Development and Energy Minister AK Sharma said that the consumption of electricity was increasing day by day in the state.
He said, "During the Global Investors Summit, we had signed an agreement with NTPC to set up a thermal plant at Obra. Today, the project has been approved by the Council of Ministers. This plant will be built on about 500 acres of land and if further land is needed, arrangements will be made for that too.”
“Uttar Pradesh government and NTPC will have 50-50 participation in this. In this, 30 percent equity will be given by both the parties and the idea is to take 70 percent loan from financial institutions. The first unit is targeted to be ready in 50 months and the second unit in 56 months," he added.
The Energy Minister informed further that UP’s current capacity in terms of thermal power generation stands at 7000 MW and the two plants will contribute almost 25 percent of the existing capacity.
He further stated, “We hope that this plant becomes an energy hub not only of the state, but of the entire country. The consumption of coal will be lower at the new plants because of use of advanced technologies while transportation cost of the coal will also drop significantly due to close location of NCL coalmines. This will reduce substantially the cost of production at the plant."
"At present, we buy electricity at Rs.5.50 per unit, while from this plant we will be able to buy electricity at Rs.4.79 per unit. That is, we will be able to provide cheap electricity to consumers at Re 1 per unit," he added.