7,600 MW power plant in Nalgonda

Hyderabad: In order to move fast towards achieving surplus power status, Telangana State government has decided to set up 7,600 MW thermal power generation centre at Veeralapalem and Delavarpur villages at Damarcharla mandal in Nalgonda district.

• KCR takes aerial survey
• Project will need 7,800 acres of land
• It is expected to generate around 30,000 jobs

As part of this, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Tuesday conducted an aerial survey on the availability of land to set up the power plant in the district.

In a meeting held with the Energy Minister C Laxma Reddy and officials after the survey, he informed that the State-owned TS Genco would establish the plant with 5,200 MW capacity and another plant with 2,600 MW would be taken up by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in the area. Since Damaracharla was having access to railway network and close was to Krishna river, he said the government zeroed in on the area as it was ideal to set up the power plants.

The requirement of land for setting up the project was around 7,800 acres. As some forest land also comes under the project site, KCR called on the Union Minister for Forest and Environment, Prakash Javadekar, on phone and sought his approval for the de-notification of the lands.

Government would compensate the same extent of the utilised forest lands in some other place to the forest department, he said, adding the Union Minister also assured that his ministry would give nod within a week after it receives proposals from the State.

Instructing the TS Genco to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) immediately, the Chief Minister said he would meet the Union ministry for its approval in January first week. KCR hoped the new project would create employment to 20,000 to 30,000 people and also help in establishing new townships in the district.