India's President Pranab Mukherjee will inaugurate Rs.3,429-crore power project of state- owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd.'s (ONGC) in Tripura on Friday, reports said.
The first unit of the 726.6 MW gas-based power plant has commenced generating electricity and will be formally dedicated to the nation at a ceremony at Palatana, Tripura on June 21, official sources said.
While the first 363 MW unit was synchronized on October 2012, the second unit is expected to commence operation in August.
The Rs.3,429 crore project has been built by ONGC through a special purpose vehicle, ONGC Tripura Power Company (OTPC).
ONGC holds 50 percent stake in OTPC, while Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Service Ltd. (IL&FS) has 26 percent. Government of Tripura has 0.5 percent equity and the balance is yet to be tied-up.
Power generated at the plant will be evacuated through a 400kV Transmission system connecting Palatana (generation project site) in Tripura to Bongaigaon in Assam over a distance of around 650 km.
ONGC has built the project to monetize natural gas reserves it has discovered in Tripura. These reserves are yet to be commercially developed due to low industrial demand in the North-Eastern region, sources said
Power plant together with the transmission line and gas field development cost around Rs.10,000 crore.
The power project, whose foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in October 2005, will help solve the power crisis of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram and Tripura.
The project was a hallmark of cooperation between India and Bangladesh, which ensured smooth passage of heavy project equipment and turbines to Palatana through its territory by road and waterways, from Haldia port in West Bengal, sources added.
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