The Tamil Nadu Government has set the ball rolling for establishing the state’s first 800-MW supercritical coal-based power plant, with Chief Minister Jayalalithaa laying the foundation stone for the project.
Public sector unit BHEL has been awarded contract for the Rs 6,376-crore project which will come up at Athipattu in Tiruvallur district over 250 acres of land, the government said today.
Jayalalithaa had laid the foundation stone for the project on Friday.
“This is the first time in Tamil Nadu that a 800-MW unit is being established under the supercritical technology. The project will be completed in August 2019 and 19.2 million units of power a day will be generated,” an official release said.
In the first phase, BHEL has been awarded a Rs 2,759-crore contract towards taking up works relating to boiler, turbine and generator, besides engineering, procurement and construction, among others, it said.
Jayalalithaa gave away the work order to BHEL MD Atul Sobti.
The release said the project was part of the State Government’s efforts to make Tamil Nadu ‘power-surplus,’ even as the demand for electricity, which was key for agricultural and industrial growth, was also increasing.