Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi today dedicated to the nation the 765 kv Ranchi-Dharmjaygarh-Sipat Transmission Line connecting the Eastern and Western parts of the country.
The transmission link was inaugurated online at Prabhat Tara, Dhurwa, in Ranchi.

            In a slew of inaugurations, Mr. Narendra Modi also initiated the commencement of work of 3x660 MW North Karanpura Super Thermal Power Project of NTPC.
The Governor of Jharkhand Shri Sayed Ahmed, the Chief Minister of Jharkhand Shri Hemant Soren, the Union Minister for Communications and IT Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, the MoS(I/c) for Power, Shri Piyush Goyal, and the MoS(I/c) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment , Shri Sudarshan Bhagat were present on the occasion.

            Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister asserted that if India has to emerge as a developed nation, then no part of the country can remain weak and underdeveloped He  said eastern India has remained underdeveloped, and growth should be balanced across north, south, east and west - so that common people across the country can enjoy the fruits of development in equal measure. 

            The Prime Minister pointed out that Jharkhand would benefit enormously by yesterday’s Cabinet decision to increase royalty rates on minerals. Shri.  Narendra Modi also announced that work would commence shortly on the Jagdishpur-Phoolpur-Haldia gas pipeline - which would become a major source of energy for eastern India. 

            Initiating the commencement of work at the North Karanpura Super Thermal Power Plant, the Prime Minister said this power plant would dispel darkness not only from Jharkhand but also from different parts of the country.

            Addressing the function on this occasion, Union Energy Minister Shri. Piyush Goyal said that though NTPC project in Jharkhand was started more than ten years back but because of lack of coal linkage and several other issues, the power project could not take off during the last ten years. Mr. Goyal also announced that the centre is keen to provide separate feeder line to farmers in the state. Referring to the underground fire in Jharia coalfield, Mr. Goyal announced that the Union Government will provide Rs. 100 crore for controlling the underground fire. The Union Energy Minister expressed concern that despite huge stock of coal, Jharkhand is not getting adequate energy. He expressed hope that very soon the state will have adequate supply of electricity to provide continuous power supply for every sector in the state. This will create a new era of overall development of Jharkhand.

765kV Ranchi-Dharamjaygarh-Sipat Inter-regional transmission line:

            Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. has implemented the 765kV Ranchi-Dharamjaygarh-Sipat Inter-regional transmission line at a total cost of Rs. 1600 Crore.   The 392 km line has been planned as a part of transmission scheme associated with DVC generation projects to evacuate/transfer power from Eastern Region to Western part of India.  Two new 765 kV sub-stations have been built at Ranchi in Jharkhand and Dharamjaygarh in Chhattisgarh.

            The benefits of the project include augmentation of inter-regional capacity of Eastern Region with Western Region, thereby facilitating exchange of surplus power between Eastern Region and Western Region, depending on the availability of generation and load demand in each region.

NTPC’s  North  Karanpura  Super  Thermal  Power project  in Jharkhand  :

            The NTPC project, which is the first of its kind in the state is based on latest eco –friendly and efficient   supercritical technology for power generation. Air Cooled condensers have also been specified for these units for the first time in NTPC, to make itself future ready for challenges in meeting water requirement of power plants.

            Former Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee laid the foundation stone for the project on 6th March 1999. Due to some technical reasons the work could not commence.      Subsequently, Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI), cleared the North Karanpura project on 20^th February 2013 and decided in-principle to restore the original coal linkage granted to the project.  Ministry of Coal restored the coal linkage on May 2013 with the stipulation that the coal supply will commence during the 13th Five Year Plan.

            NTPC has taken necessary measures to initiate the project activities for swift implementation of North Karanpura project by awarding turnkey EPC (Engineering Procurement and Construction) package to BHEL in Feb 2014. All the units are based on supercritical technology which is an efficient and environment friendly technology for power generation. Air Cooled condensers have also been specified for these units for the first time in NTPC, to make itself future ready for challenges in meeting water requirement of power plants.

            NTPC is already supplying about 298 MW power to Jharkhand from its various power stations. Jharkhand will get around 230 MW from this project. In addition 354 MW has been allocated by Ministry of Power to Jharkhand from other new and under construction projects of NTPC.

RM/ND