NTPC may downsize West Bengal project

may consider downsizing its Katwa project in West Bengal by half so that it can be

built within the 550 acres that has been given to the power company by the state. Alternatively, if it is

handed over an additional 250 acres of land nearby, which need not be contiguous, NTPC could set up the plant

with the original envisaged capacity, the company's chairman said.

"Options available include downsizing capacity from the proposed 1,600 mw to 800 mw or if the government could

give us some 250 acres additional land nearby, the project could be undertaken. However, we cannot set up 1,600

mw over the 550 acres that have been given to us but we do not want to abandon the project," NTPC chairman Arup

Roy Choudhury said.

"We also need a coal block that will supply coal to the project because the state government has surrendered

the mines at Dhamagaria which was supposed to provide us the supplies. The plant will require 7.5 MT of coal

annually," Roychowdhury said.

"NTPC executives met state officials on Saturday to discuss the project although there has been no concrete

decision on its fate. We are stressing on the need for adequate land to set up the ash pond because it is

necessary for us to receive environmental nod," he said. West Bengal has so far allocated only 550 acres of

land whereas the requirement is 1200 acre. The NTPC power project has become symbolic of what critics term as

the government's indifference to industrialisation.

The state government, headed by Mamata Banerjee, has ruled out acquiring land for industry. Instead it wants

companies to acquire land directly from farmers. Roy Choudhury, ruled out the possibility of shifting the

project outside the state for the time being although it has recently shifted a similar project out of Odhisa

due to problem with lad acquisition. "We moved the Odisha project to Madhya Pradesh where the state government

has allotted 2000 acres of land for a 1600 mw project," he said.

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