Bihar to set up its first pvt sector power plant

Patna, Jun 18 (UNI) Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Vikas Metal and Power Limited (VMPL) for setting up the state's first private sector power plant at Barauni in Begusarai district.

Official sources here yesterday said under the agreement a 2,000 MW coal based power plant would come up in Barauni where a public sector thermal power plant, run by BSEB, was already in operation.

The MoU, opening a new vista in the energy sector of the state, was signed by VMPL Managing Director Vikas Patnu on one hand and by BSEB Secretary A K Singh on the other in presence of state Power Minister Vijendra Yadav. Later Mr Yadav dedicated the proposed project to the people of Bihar.

Reiterating government's committment to provide three phase power to all villages in the state to facilitate irrigation, Mr Yadav said only 24 per cent of farmland in Bihar can now be irrigated through water canals, while the rest of the land depended on diesel pumps.

The Rs 2,500 crore project had already been approved by Bihar State Investment Promotion Board (BSIPB) and cleared by the Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB).

Once the plant became operational, possibly by 2011, its power tariff would be determined by the Bihar state electricity regulatory commission. However, as per the agreement, the private company would be free to sell power to other states in case Bihar did not purchase them for its own consumption.

In the same manner locals would be given preference for jobs in the plant, but if the required skills set by the company could not be met by them, the company would be free to hire personnel from elsewhere, the sources, quoting the major clauses of the agreement, said.

UNI