NTPC’s Coal Projects Cleared by Environment Ministry

The Environment ministry in December 2010 granted clearance to three coal-based NTPC power projects, even before National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) determined the source of coal. It must be noted here that the Environment ministry had in the recent past issued a directive mentioning that coal dependent projects would have to first secure environmental and forest clearances for the linked coal block or mine before applying for clearances for the project. Environment minister, Jairam Ramesh said an exception was made in case of the three NTPC projects in view of cited the importance of these projects in indigenising super-critical technology. The projects would contribute towards meeting India’s target of reducing emission intensity by 20 to 25%.

The three projects for which NTPC was granted clearance are- Nabinagar in Bihar, and Sholapur and Mouda in Maharashtra. The projects will use super-critical technology which will lead to lower carbon emission. The three projects are part of the bulk ordering programme to enable a smooth transfer of technology for supercritical units between Alstom- Siemens and BHEL. BHEL in 2006 had signed a technology transfer agreement for the 660MW and 800MW supercritical technology with Alstom and Siemens. Later, in 2008 NTPC agreed to give BHEL several of the supercritical technology projects on a negotiated basis.