Purti group to diversify into power generation, coal mining

Nagpur, Jan 30 (UNI) The Purti Group of Nagpur, headed by former Maharashtra minister Nitin Gadkari, plans to set up a 500 megawatt (MW) thermal power plant near here and also diversify into coal mining.

Purti Sugar Mills Ltd Managing Director (MD) Sudhir Diwe told UNI here today that the power plant was proposed to be set up jointly with the Mumbai-based Hindustan Construction Company (HCC). The plant would be erected on Purti's land at Bela in Nagpur district, he said.

Purti and HCC had jointly applied for the allocation of a coal block for the requirement of 700 tonnes per day of fuel that would be needed for the power plant, Mr Diwe said. The first priority for the coal block had been given to Lohara (West) in Chandrapur district in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra and the second to Chhapiya in Chhattisgarh, he said.

The plant, estimated to cost Rs 2,000 crore, would be erected within 22 months from the day the coal block was allotted to the company, Mr Diwe said.

Earlier in the day, Purti Sugar Mills Ltd signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for the purchase of surplus electricity from its 22 MW co-generation plant at Bela, with Reliance Energy Trading Ltd (RETL), an Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) company.

Purti's co-generation power plant will use bagasse and biomass as the primary fuel and upto 30 per cent coal, Mr Diwe said.

Generation was expected to begin early next month, he said and added that the proposed 500 MW thermal power plant was separate from the existing 22 MW co-generation unit of the company.

UNI