Don't you need NTPC power: Kishan to State govt

Hyderabad: Union Minister for Coal and Mines, G Kishan Reddy, lashed at the State government for not cooperating with the Centre's measures to make more power available to Telangana. He said that the Centre is taking every possible measure to increase power production, given the growing energy demand across the country. As part of the same, the NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved setting up a 4,000 megawatt (MW) super thermal power plant in Ramagundam of Peddapalli district, Telangana, he said.

Accordingly, two power plants by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), each with 800 MW, have been completed and commissioned. The two power plants taken up with Rs 10,598.98 crore were dedicated by the Prime Minister on October 2, 2003, and March 4, 2024, and 85 per cent of the total generating capacity of 1,600 MW of the two plants is being utilised to meet the power demands of Telangana.

The Centre wants to commission the remaining 2,400 MW projects at the earliest to provide energy security to Telangana. As part of the same, the NTPC must enter into a power purchase agreement with the Transmission Corporation of Telangana (TSTRANSCO) to begin the project and procure the coal necessary to run the power plants.

The Centre wants to complete the Lara Super Thermal Power Project-II (STPP-II) early since the energy demand in India is increasing daily. Following this, the NTPC has been writing to the State to extend its cooperation on the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) as soon as possible.

Kishan Reddy said that the NTPC wrote four letters to the TSTRANSCO, but there has been no response so far. He said that the NTPC informed TSTRANSCO that it is left with no other option in the wake of a lack of response to its repeated letters but to conclude that the State government is not interested in purchasing power from the STPP-II project in Ramagundam.

NTPC further informed that, if allowed, it will sell the power to other States in South India if the Telangana government shows no interest. The Union Minister said that the total energy demand in the country stood at 250 GW on May 30, 2024. The peak power demand in Telangana stood at 15.6 gigawatts in March 2024. The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) estimated the peak power demand in Telangana would double by 2030.

This necessitates the early completion of the second phase of the NTPC power plant with a capacity of 2,400 MW to meet the demand in Telangana. He said the people of Telangana have the first right over the power production in the State. While the Centre is extending its cooperation, the State government is not responding by cooperating for the early commissioning of the second phase of the project, said Kishan Reddy.

He stressed that entering PPA by responding to the letters of the NTPC protects the State's interests. He added that there is an urgent need on the part of the State government to take the issue seriously and implement positive measures.