Union Minister of State for Power Jairam Ramesh, while reviewing the progress of work at Damodar Valley Corporation's 2x250 mw Chandrapura thermal power station project in Jharkhand, has directed Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd to immediately carry out technical studies to restart the 3x120 mw units supplied by it in the late 1970s. These units have never worked properly and have been shut down since 2002.
While pulling up Bhel for the colossal waste of national resources, the minister noted that the 3x130 mw units supplied by GE in the late 1960s were still working well at Chandrapura while the Bhel-supplied units failed.
The Chandrapura TPS in Bokaro district of Jharkhand has six units-three each of 130 mw and 120 mw. DVC is setting up two more units of 250-mw each for which Bhel will be the main plant supplier. This project was originally scheduled for completion in the 10th Plan period ending March 2007, but is still under construction. By revised timelines, one unit is planned for commissioning this month followed by the second in February next year.
Last year, Union Power Secretary Anil Razdan had directed DVC to strengthen its monitoring mechanism to avoid further delays in commissioning of the project. He advised the utility to call upon Bhel along with all the other sub-contractors to review the progress of the project and take measures to bring it back on track.