The relief and rehabilitation plan of the NTPC's Mauda super thermal power project has run into rough weather. The Maharashtra Government has asked the company to almost double its relief and rehabilitation (R&R) outlay to Rs 90 crore, which NTPC is not keen to pay.

Senior NTPC officials told Business Line that doubling the earlier R&R outlay of Rs 45 crore was unacceptable. The previous plan had received approval from the board, but the “Maharashtra Government has been taking too many U-turns in the process of land acquisition and relief and rehabilitation plan,” an official familiar with the development said.

The State Government has asked the company to align its relief and rehabilitation plan for the Rs 10,000 crore project, along the lines offered by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd for the Jaitpur project, which was earlier never discussed, officials point out.

An NTPC spokesperson, however, said that NTPC has not received any demand from Maharashtra Government for paying additional amount and presently the matter is being examined by the energy department of the State Government.

Uncertainties

NTPC is in the process of setting up a 1,800-MW power plant based on thermal coal at Mauda, which is about 40 km from Nagpur. It requires about 2,400 acres, of which 1,500 acres has already been acquired and the rest under process. The contract for the main civil work and plant equipment has already been awarded.

“Even the process of land acquisition was rocky, in 2007 it was to be acquired under the Land Acquisition Act but then midway State Government asked the company to acquire it under Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation act, which has a different set of relief and rehabilitation norms. It brings about too many uncertainties in the project execution,” officials said.

Last May, due to non-compliance with the relief and rehabilitation norms of the government, the company was issued with a “stop work notice” by the District Collector and project work was suspended for a few days. The notice was withdrawn by the State Government on the assurance that the relief and rehabilitation plan was to be soon finalised.

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