Work on NTPC's Rs. 8,000-crore Katwa power plant to begin soon.

The West Bengal government has allocated 96 acres for NTPC's proposed 1,320-mw thermal power plant at Katwa, while local residents have agreed to add 150 acre to the land pool, raising hopes that the long-delayed project will get off the block.

State-run NTPC's proposed Rs. 8,000-crore project has been stuck for almost three years due to problems with land acquisition. So far, the power producer has got only about 70% of the 800 acre it needs to set up the plant.


'The 96 acre is a mix of vested land (38 acres), agriculture land of about 31 acres and the rest belonging to the panchayat and irrigation department,' West Bengal power minister Manish Gupta said recently. According to officials, almost all of the 96 acre belongs to the state and hence will not necessitate fresh land acquisition. This includes 20 acre of uninhabited land on the flats of Ajay River, in Bardhaman, where the pump house will be set up, some 50 acre of embankment through which the water will be transported, and roadsides.


ET