Indian Railways to set up 1000 MW captive power unit jointly with NTPC at Nabinagar

06 November 2007

Indian Railways has signed a joint venture agreement with the National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd. (NTPC) to set up a 1000 MW captive power plant for the rqailways, Bhartiya Rail Bijlee Company Limited, at Nabinagar in Bihar.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister for railways Lalu Prasad said that nearly 18,000 route kilometer, out of more than 63,000 route kilometers of Indian Railways network, has already been electrified which constitutes 28 per cent of the total rail network carrying nearly 63 per cent of freight and 47.8 per cent of passenger traffic.

The minister said that Indian Railways was spending about Rs5,700 crore per annum for consumption on more than 13,000 million units of electricity towards electric energy for traction and non-traction purposes.

In order to derive full benefits of the ongoing reforms in power sector, the minister said that, a decision has been taken by the ministry of railways in consultation with the ministry of power to set up power projects in joint venture with National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd.

10 per cent of power from the Nabinagar power plant, to be built at a cost of Rs5352 crore, will be earmarked for other users.

The equity portions of NTPC and Indian Railways will be 74 per cent (Rs1,188 crore) and 26 per cent (Rs417 crore) respectively. Indian Railways expects to save approximately Rs600 crore per annum. The electricity from this plant will be utilised by Indian Railways for running electric trains in Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Chhatisgarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh in the eastern and western regions of the country. The minster said that setting up of such joint venture power project plants will benefit the nation as it would mean net addition to the generation capacity.