Last week, NTPC announced that it has taken over a stressed power generation plant owned by the Bihar state government. The Central utility also announced that it has acquired full control of two joint ventures, in which Bihar government had equity stake. The two joint ventures are Nabinagar Power Generating Company Pvt Ltd and Kanti Bijli Utpadan Nigam Ltd.
NTPC took over the 720-mw Barauni thermal power station located in Bihar’s Begusarai district. The plant comprises of Stage-I (2×110-mw), which is advanced stage of R&M, and Stage-II (2×250 mw) that is under construction. NTPC is expected to complete the balance works and achieve sustained commercial operation of units in a time bound manner.
Nabinagar Power Generating Company Pvt Ltd is a 50:50 joint venture company of NTPC Ltd and Bihar State Power Generation Co Ltd. The JV is developing a 1,980-mw Nabinagar super thermal power project in Bihar’s Aurangabad district. The project, currently under construction, envisages three supercritical power generation units of 660-mw each.
Kanti Bijli Utpadan Nigam (KBUNL) owns and operates the Muzaffarpur Thermal Power Station (MTPS) (2×110 mw+ 2×195 mw) situated at Kanti, in Muzaffarpur district. The plant is currently under operation. KBUNL is a joint venture between NTPC (equity stake: 72.64 per cent) and Bihar State Power Generation Company (27.36 per cent).
This takeover by NTPC does not bode too well for the Bihar state government. Over the years, Bihar has time and again displayed inability in improving its power sector—be it power generation or power distribution.
Several years ago, Bihar tried to set up power generation plants using the tariff-based competitive bidding route. However, this failed to enthuse the private sector. It then formed JVs with NTPC for specific projects. Even here, Bihar government has offloaded its equity stake in favour of NTPC.
In the field of power distribution, Bihar tried to appoint distribution franchises for the capital city Patna, but the exercise did not meet with much success. The Bhagalpur area did find a private distribution franchisee but the contract was terminated, and that too arbitrarily as reports suggested.
Bihar tried to improve its power transmission network by itself but ultimately Central power transmission utility PGCIL came to the rescue. Accordingly, an equal joint venture Bihar Grid Company Ltd was formed that has recently started operations.
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Bihar must bolster its machinery and take steps to improve its power infrastructure, to the best of its ability. It should also create an environment where private sector enterprise could be gainfully sought. It is time that Bihar wakes up to the fact that “power” is a state subject and too much reliance on the Central government epitomizes unhealthy dependence.
The author of this article, Venugopal Pillai, is Editor, T&D India. Views expressed here are personal. The author may be reached at venugopal.pillai@tndindia.com