Tamil Nadu to beef up power generation capacity

Thursday, 20 March 2008, 19:30 IST
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Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government, which has drawn flak from industries and households for power cuts, has decided to enhance its power generation capacity. Outlining the state government's plans on this front in his budget speech here Thursday, Finance Minister K. Anbazhagan said: "Work for setting up a new 600 MW unit in the North Chennai Thermal Power Plant at a cost of 24.75 billion ($612.2 million) is under progress. Tenders have been invited for setting up a 600 MW power plant at Mettur Thermal Power Station." He said the generating capacity of the Thoothukudi thermal power station would be augmented by 1,000 MW. While these projects would be executed by Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB), he said work has already commenced for establishing a 1,500 MW power plant in north Chennai as a joint venture between TNEB and National Thermal Power Corp. TNEB has also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) for establishing a 1,600 MW power plant at Udangudi in Thoothukudi district. In the coming financial year, the power transmission and distribution infrastructure in the state would be improved at a cost of 17.20 billion by setting up 90 new electrical sub stations, he added. The state government that pioneered free power supply to agriculture, handloom and powerloom sectors has allocated 3.35 billion in the budget for TNEB.
Source: IANS