Telangana plans new power station in Ramagundam without decommissioning old one

This is without following standard procedures laid down by Central Electricity Authority

Hyderabad: The State government is going ahead with its plan to establish an 800-MW supercritical thermal power station in Ramagundam of Peddapalli district in a joint venture between TGGENCO and Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL). However, this is without following standard procedures laid down by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).

Recently, the State government took a decision to establish a 800-MW thermal plant in the place of 62.5 MW Ramagundam B thermal power plant, which was shut down last June due to low production and pollution issues. As per norms, the State Energy Department has to issue a GO recommending the decommission of the old plant and the TGGENCO governing body also has to give its consent for the decommission.

---

Once the two authorities give their consent for the decommission of the old plant, it has to be sent to the Union Power Ministry for approval. Then again it has to be sent to the CEA. Once the CEA approves the proposal, it will remove the plant from the list of installed thermal power stations. After that, GENCO has to send proposals for building a new plant to the State government. Without all this, the State government has appointed a high-level committee with senior power engineers from Singareni and GENCO to construct a new plant in Ramagundam in a joint venture.

Apart from this, GENCO was supposed to appoint an expert committee to determine how much revenue would be generated by demolishing the old Ramagundam plant and selling the machines. After the report of the committee was prepared, tenders for demolition should be called accordingly. As no decommissioning orders have been received so far, no action has been taken in this direction. The State government knows very well that without demolishing the old plant, it would be difficult to set up a new one in its place, yet it was not taking measures to start the process of decommissioning the old plant.

Initially, the State government considered the idea of establishing a plant by the SCCL, however, it changed its decision due to various reasons and, now, it has decided to establish the unit as a joint venture of the SCCL and GENCO. However, the government proposal of establishing the plant in joint venture with the SCCL is being opposed by GENCO engineers and employees unions.

Recently, members of the Telangana Power Employees Joint Action Committee (TGPEJAC) staged a protest at all the circle offices, the corporate office and generating stations, demanding that the proposed power plant in Ramagundam be wholly owned by GENCO, instead of the proposed joint venture with Singareni Collieries.