Nov 06, (Bihar Times): Railways have added another mile stone by signing a joint venture agreement here today, with National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd. (NTPC) to set up a 1000 MW power plant – Bhartiya Rail Bijlee Company Limited at Nabinagar in Bihar. Speaking on the occasion, the Minister for Railways, Lalu Prasad said that nearly 18,000 route kilometer, out of more than 63,000 route kilometers of Indian Railways network, has already been electrified which constitutes 28 per cent of the total rail network carrying nearly 63 per cent of freight and 47.8 per cent of passenger traffic. The Minister said that Railways are spending about Rs. 5700 crore per annum for consumption on more than 13000 million units of electricity towards electric energy for traction and non-traction purposes. In order to derive full benefits of the ongoing reforms in power sector, the Minister said that, a decision has been taken by the Ministry of Railways in consultation with the Ministry of Power to set up power projects in joint venture with National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd. The Minister further observed that this is also the need of the hour especially in view of the demands of a globalising economy and mega projects of the Railways such as the planned Dedicated Freight Corridors across the country.

The Nabinagar power plant, to be built at a cost of Rs. 5352 crore, will be of 1000 MW capacity and 10 per cent of power from this plant is earmarked to other users. The equity portions of NTPC and Indian Railways will be 74 per cent (Rs. 1188 crore) and 26 per cent (Rs. 417 crore) respectively. Indian Railways is thereby expected to save approximately Rs. 600 crore per annum. The electricity from this plant will be utilized by Indian Railways for running electric trains in Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Chhatisgarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh in the eastern and western regions of the country. The Minster said that setting up of such joint venture power project plants will benefit the nation as it would mean net addition to the generation capacity.

The Union Power Minister Shushilkumar Shinde complimented the Minister for Railways for the spectacular growth of Railways in the recent past in general and for the proactive initiative for the setting up of this power plant at Nabinagar in Bihar in particular. He added that this joint venture will be mutually beneficial for both the Ministries of Railways and Power in view of the ever rising demand for power in the country. He further added that such cooperation would help pave the way for achieving the target of providing power to each household by the end of the 11th Plan period.

The joint venture agreement was signed by Sudheer Kumar, Executive Director (Electrical Energy Management), Ministry of Railways and R.S. Sharma, Director (Commercial), NTPC in the presence of Union Minister for Railways Lalu Prasad and the Union Minister for Power Shushil Kumar Shinde.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chairman Railway Board, K.C. Jena said that as a precursor to this historic occasion for the first time in the 150 years of Railway history, a Memorandum of Understanding was earlier signed between Railways and NTPC on 18th February, 2002 for setting up of joint venture project and later on 1st February 2007, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the setting up of a joint venture company – Bhartiya Rail Bijlee Company Ltd. at Nabinagar in Bihar.

The Union Cabinet has, in view of the unreasonably high tariff charged by SEBs, approved Railways’ proposal for availing direct power supply from Central generating agencies from the 15 per cent unallocated central share of power. Accordingly, Railways have availed power supply from Dadri and Auriya power plant of NTPC in November 2000 for Ghaziabad-Kanpur section of Northern Railway. Railways are saving about Rs. 50 crore per annum due to implementation of these schemes for availing direct power supply from NTPC/Central generating agencies.

Also present on the occasion were the Ministers of State for Railways R. Velu and Naranbhai J. Rathwa, S.K. Vij, Member (Engineering), Railway Board, Secretary, Ministry of Power, Anil Razdan, T. Sankaralingam, CMD, NTPC and other senior officers from Railways, Ministry of Power and NTPC.

Comment