Odisha requests Centre for 33% free power from thermal plants

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday requested the Centre to consider providing 25-33 per cent free power from the coal fired thermal power generating stations to coal-bearing states.

During his meeting with Union Power Secretary Ajay Bhalla at the state secretariat here, the chief minister also asked for de-allocation of costly NTPC power from stations located outside Odisha. He said allocations from NTPC plants within the state and other thermal plants are adequate and there is no requirement of additional power from NTPC stations located outside Odisha.

Naveen stressed the need for inclusion of socio-economic caste census households in partially electrified villages under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana to achieve 100 per cent household electrification.

The chief minister also sought to speed up finalisation of Standard Bidding Document (SBD) for the Ultra Mega Power project at Bhedabahal in Sundargarh district. The SBD is pending for the central government’s approval for more than three years, he added.