Push For Make In India Helped Us Save Rs 500 Crore, Says NUPPL CEO On Construction Of New Plant 

A new thermal power plant is set to start its operations soon at Ghatampur in Kanpur district. The construction of the project, which will produce 1,980 MW of electricity annually, has gathered pace in the last few years. There are three units of 660 MW which will function together after the completion of construction. It is being built on a 1,013 hectare land in the state with 832 hectares being utilised for the plant and township while the remaining land has been used for building the railway siding.  

The supercritical thermal power plant is being built by Neyveli Uttar Pradesh Power Ltd (NUPPL), a joint venture between Neyveli Lignite Corporation India Ltd (NLCIL) and Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd. NLCIL is a public sector undertaking under the central government. The project was sanctioned by the Centre back in 2016 with the initial schedule of completing all three units in 64 months at the initial cost of Rs 17,237 crore. However, the budget of the project has now increased to around Rs 19,406 crore.

In an exclusive interview to Outlook Business, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NUPPL Santhosh CS talks about how the new power plant will augment electricity supply, the steps taken to reduce emissions, the cost of building the project and the expected timeline of starting production.

Edited Excerpts: 

How has the experience of running a joint venture with Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam been in the last seven years? 

The synergy between the two entities has been really great as the JV has received a lot of support from Centre and the UP government. The local issues related to land acquisition were resolved with the help of UP government to establish our first plant in the state while the Centre helped us in receiving all the necessary approvals for the project. So overall, I can say that the project has benefitted from this dual support of both the governments. 

By when do you expect that the plant will start operations?

Earlier, we were planning the commissioning of the first unit by July but it might take two-three months more. We expect that all three units of the plant will start functioning by the end of this financial year only. 

There has been a deviation from the initial schedule for the construction of the plant. What have been the reasons behind the delay?

Our first unit was supposed to be commissioned in 2020 but due to various reasons the project got delayed. Initially, we faced some strikes by unions and farmers which took around six months to resolve. Then the Covid-19 pandemic struck whose cascading effects we are still suffering. Amidst all this, we also faced troubles with one of our vendors which took time to resolve. But we have been able to resolve most of the issues and the work is progressing at a good pace.  

After the units start functioning, what is the arrangement of power supply that has been agreed upon?

According to our power purchase agreements (PPAs), we will supply 75 per cent of our total output to Uttar Pradesh while the remaining 25 per cent will be supplied to Assam. We signed the agreement with Assam last month. 

The government has pushed for make in India and the use of equipment that are manufactured domestically in the last few years. How has that impacted the construction of this plant? 

I can safely say that this push for indigenous use of equipment and manufacturing has helped us save at least Rs 500 crore in this project. We have two vendors, L&T and GE, who are helping us build the boiler and turbine for the plant. They have been sourcing their equipment from domestic units which has helped in cutting down import costs. So the make in India push has been greatly beneficial for us. 

There is also a lot of talk about green energy and curbing emissions globally. Given it’s a thermal power plant, have measures been taken keeping in mind the environment?

It’s important to note that it’s a supercritical thermal power plant which helps in improving efficiency and emissions when compared to subcritical power plants. We are also deploying flu gas desulfarisation technology along with the use of selective catalyst reactor at our plant which will greatly help in curbing emissions. We are also ensuring that there won’t be any water wastage at our plant. 

Along with this, we will also establish a 792 MW solar power plant on a 1,267 hectare land in the coming years, which has been mandated by the central government recently.