Over 15,000 MW gas-based capacity is in limbo for want of natural gas as there is no gas available from RIL’s KG basin. The supplies from KG-D6 block to power plants were cut in March this year after output from the eastern offshore fields dropped to an all-time low. The total capacity of gas-based stations in the country is estimated to be18,830 MW of which 15,529 MW is fed with gas from RIL. The gas-based capacity which is lying idle comprises central, state as well as private power plants.
The are 55 gas-based stations- 14 in Andhra Pradesh, 12 in Gujarat, 6 in Tamil Nadu, 5 in Assam, 4 each in Delhi and Tripura, 3 each in Rajasthan and Maharashtra, 2 in Uttar Pradesh and one each in Haryana and Puducherry.
Six of the seven gas-based power plants of NTPC do not have any gas supplies. NTPC’s total gas-based capacity stands at 3,955 MW of which 3,605 MW is stranded due to lack of fuel. Private power generation plants – 220 MW plant of GMR Energy at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh and 2,220 MW Ratnagiri project of JSW Energy in Maharashtra has also not received supply from RIL.
