Hyderabad: National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has commissioned its 500-mw unit seven expansion project at its Ramagundam superthermal power station located in Karimnagar district, thereby taking its overall capacity there to 2,600 MW. This unit would cater to Goa, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

The NTPC top brass maintained that it was on course to complete its proposed 9,370-MW expansion project across the country during the 10th plan.

Addressing a press conference on Sunday, the union power minister, P M Sayeed, and the chairman and managing director of NTPC, C P Jain, said that the centre accords the highest priority to the development and expansion of the power sector and plans to cover all unelectrified villages in the next five years. Out of 5,85,000 villages, about 1,25,000 villages are yet to be electrified.

Jain said that the NTPC unit was completed in a record 37 months. This project has firmed up coal linkages from Western Coal Fields for 2.5 million tonnes of coal. and this linkage works out more competitively than the price offered by Singareni Collieries Company Ltd. Referring to the NTPC expansion strategy, Jain said that NTPC had planned to create additional capacity of 9,370mw during the Tenth Plan period and 11,558mw during the 11^th plan. Against the proposed expansion plans, about 2,000mw was already commissioned and another 8,490mw is at various stages of completion. Further, another 5,080mw of generation capacity across the country is at various stages of the tendering process. "We are confident that the projected target of 9,370mw would be met during the plan period."

When asked to speak about new projects in Andhra Pradesh, Jain said that as per NTPC strategy, it is not required to locate a plant in the state where power is supplied. Therefore, out of the 2,000- mw plant at Talcher, about 482mw would be earmarked for Andhra Pradesh. Likewise, from the seventh unit, some power would go to the southern states.

The chief minister, YS Rajasekhara Reddy, while complimenting the NTPC for completing the power project in record time, sought financial assistance of Rs 200 crore for irrigation projects in the state.