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Power situation to improve by �12: Govt

By Staff reporter

GUWAHATI, March 12 � State Power Minister Pradyut Bardoloi today told the Assembly that the power scenario would witness considerable improvement by 2012-13 with the commissioning of the revived 1,250-MW Bongaigaon Thermal Power Station (BTPS).

Replying to a call attention by Pradip Hazarika (AGP) who cited a recent newspaper report and sought a clarification on the prospect of completion of the Amguri gas-based thermal power project, Bardoloi said that as part of the Government�s objective of achieving the desired 60:40 thermal-hydel power ratio in the State, work on several thermal projects was on.

�We have added an additional 500 MW power to the 750-MW BTPS which would be commissioned in two phase by 2012 and 2013,� he said, adding that the Chandrapur thermal station would soon be commissioned as a joint venture and that an additional 38 MW was being added to the Lakuwa thermal project.

Reasoning that a major factor behind the State�s recurring power crisis was its over dependence on hydro-electric projects which invariably face a lean phase during the winter when rivers experience a drastic fall in their water volumes, Bardoloi said, �Our dependence on hydropower is about 75 per cent now, which we hope to reduce substantially within the next few years,� he said.

On the Amguri project, the Minister said that shortage of gas was the reason why it failed to take off till date, and that efforts were on to float a joint venture company with a Canadian firm that is currently engaged in oil exploration at Amguri.

�The project did not take off as both OIL and ONGC expressed their inability to supply the required amount of gas. Now the State Government is likely to have a joint venture with a Canadian company which had agreed to provide gas. But it has quoted a much higher price, and as it would not viable to generate power at that cost, we are in the process of forming a joint venture entity with it,� he said, adding that some disagreement over the equity share was prolonging the process but would be worked out soon.

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