PATNA/BEGUSARAI: Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday dedicated to the nation the NTPC’s power-generating units of 1,160MW capacity at Barauni and Barh in the presence of Union minister of power and new & renewable energy R K Singh.
The power units which were dedicated to the nation are Stage-II 500MW (2X250 MW) of NTPC Barauni Thermal Power Station (BTPS) and Unit No. 1 (660MW) of NTPC Barh Super Thermal Power Station (BSTPS).
The CM also inspected different ongoing projects on the premises of the BSTPS. Before taking over as the CM in November 2005, Nitish used to represent Barh constituency in the Lok Sabha. He was elected as the Lok Sabha member from Barh for five consecutive times since 1989.
Addressing a function at Barh, the CM said one of the three proposed units of 660MW started generating power from November 12. “But it was formally inaugurated today. The second unit will be inaugurated next year and the third in 2023,” Nitish said.
“Today, I found that the Unit No. 1 is generating 678MW of power in place of 660MW. It is a matter of happiness,” the CM said.
Quoting the Union power minister’s speech, the CM said, “R K Singh has already spoken here that the NTPC would generate such a huge quantity of electricity in Bihar that the state government would not have to purchase it from any private company. Since the minister hails from Bihar, he will fulfil the requirements of the state. I thank the minister and PM Narendra Modi for their support.”
JD(U) president and Munger MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh urged the Centre to provide electricity at one rate to all the states.
Earlier, while addressing a function at NTPC’s Barauni plant, the CM said his government had taken the pledge in 2015 to carry electricity to every doorstep in the state. “With the commissioning of the two power units at Barauni and Barh by NTPC, the state can now not only meet its own requirement, but also supply power to neighbouring countries,” he said.
Nitish said when he assumed charge as CM of the state in November 2005, the state had only 700MW power generation capacity. “Today, this capacity stands at more than 6,000MW,” he added.
Reminding people of the contributions of the state’s first chief minister Sri Krishna Sinha, the CM said it was under his (Sinha’s) visionary leadership that the foundation stones for three power generation units of 15MW each were laid at Barauni in 1960.
“Unfortunately, Sri Krishna Babu’s good works could not be carried forward by the successive state governments. It’s the meticulous planning and hard work by the NDA government since 2005 that the state is now is fully assured of uninterrupted power supply,” he said.
Union minister R K Singh said the power sector in the country has undergone tremendous growth during the regime of NDA.
Those present on the occasion included central government power secretary Alok Kumar, NTPC chief managing director Gurdeep Singh, other senior NTPC officials, Matihani MLA Raj Kumar Singh and Teghra MLA Ram Ratan Singh.
