After facing endless delays in launching power generation at the Bellary Thermal Power Station (BTPS) Unit-2 due to non-availaibility of coal, light seems to be available at the end of its tunnel.
Sources in the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) said BTPS will soon receive coal for putting its second unit in operation — which has a capacity of 500 MW and has been sitting idle since February this year.
The state government could not secure a steady supply of coal for it despite repeated requests to the Centre.
The Centre, according to officials in KPCL, had backed out of supplying coal to the power station after assuring that 2 million tonnes would be given from Mahanadi Coal Fields (MCL) in Odisha.
However officials now claim that all formalities have been made and only the signing of the MoU with Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) was pending.
“A team from KPCL comprising the technical director left for MCL’s headquarters in Sambhalpur on Monday; the MoU is expected to be signed on Tuesday or Wednesday,” KPCL MD M R Kamble told Express.
Kamble added that the MoU would take care of coal supply for a period of one year and once the agreement gets signed, generation of power at the second unit of the power plant would begin within a week.