BHUBANESWAR: The state government is yet to resolve the land issue of NLC India Limited, a Navaratna public sector undertaking of the Ministry of Coal, for its proposed pit head thermal power plant of 2,400 (3X800 MW) capacity at Kumbhari and Tareikela villages in Jharsuguda district in the first phase.
The proponent of the project which has been hanging fire since 2017 due to land-related issues had identified 1,511-acre land in Talabira including 661 acres for plant area, 250 acres for the green belt, 400 acres for ash disposal area, 100 acres for common township and 100 acre for corridors. Around 500 acres of land near Thelkolai village in Sambalpur district has been identified for ash disposal.
An additional approximately 60 acres of land for laying water pipelines from the intake pump house at Hirakud reservoir up to the plant will be taken on a right-of-way basis after the finalisation of its alignments, official sources said. A recent review by the project monitoring group (PMG) for the Pragati project in the cabinet secretariat revealed land acquisition of over 1,351-acre land for the main plant is pending for acquisition in Jharsuguda district while 183.58 acres is required in Sambalpur district for the ash dyke.
It further came to the notice of the PMG of the cabinet secretariat that the state government has not sanctioned 28 acres of land out of 104 acres of government land required for the project. Though the government had sanctioned 76.52 acres of land for rehabilitation and resettlement of the project-displaced families, the district administration has not handed over about 50 acres of land for the purpose.
As the original schedule for the execution of the thermal power project has been considerably delayed, there is a need for re-phasing the water drawal schedule with the Water Resources department. Water will be drawn from the Hirakud reservoir for which the state government has given its in-principle approval.
However, water drawal point location, pipe routing and other terms need to be discussed and finalised with the department. NLCIL Board on September 12, 2016, had accorded in-principle approval for setting up a 2,000 MW power plant in the proximity of Talabira II and III coal blocks. The PSU decided to implement the 3,200 MW Talabira project in two stages (stage-I - 3x800 MW and stage-II - 1x800) at an estimated cost of Rs 16,184 crore.