It is dubbed as India’s most ambitious infrastructure project in the North-East. An international transit treaty had to be amended for it. But, three months from completion, the viability of the 727 MW gas-based ONGC Tripura Power (OTPC) project is being held to ransom by the bureaucracy.
According to sources in the Power Ministry, delays by the Assam government in paving the way for six high-tension towers (of a total of 1,831) may postpone commercial utilisation of the project, that entailed a total investment of Rs 5,300 crore (in power plant and transmission system) till end 2013.
Viability
OTPC is investing Rs 3,500 crore to set up the generation facility at Palatana in Tripura. The project will use untapped gas resources in Tripura. The first 363.3 MW unit has been commissioned on a trial basis and the second is expected to go on stream in June-July.
In the absence of adequate local demand, the viability of the project depends on a Rs 1,800-crore transmission project connecting Palatana to the national grid, 600 km away, at Bongaigaon in Assam.
Promoted by a joint venture of OTPC and Power Grid, the first phase of the transmission system up to Byrnihat (572 towers) in Assam was completed on February 26. This will allow the first unit to be run on full load.
To ensure viability of the second unit, OTPC needs to erect the rest of the 1,259 towers before the monsoon, that is expected to hit the hills in May. Apart from crossing deep forests and hills, often accessible only by foot, the line will also cross the mighty Brahmaputra river.
Forest clearances
According to sources, the company is now nearing completion of the entire transmission system except, in patches (requiring erection of three towers each), in the Aie Valley and Goalpara forest ranges of Assam.
Of the two, the State has received stage-II clearance from the Ministry of Forests and Environment (MoEF) for Aie Valley nearly a year ago but is yet to notify the same.
There has hardly been progress for forest clearance in Goalpara as the State forest department is yet to approach the MoEF for the same, so clearances are unlikely before the monsoon.
“The monsoon lasts nearly six months (May-October) in this region and is relatively heavy. No construction activity is possible during the period. If OTPC doesn’t get the due clearances for the remaining six towers in next couple of days, completion of the transmission project will be delayed by at least six months,” a source said.
Indications are clear: the second unit at Palatana, even if goes on stream on time, will end up idling.