Land Hurdle for OPGC Expansion.

Delay in land acquisition has hit expansion plans for Unit 3 and 4 of Ib Thermal Power Station (ITPS) of Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC) at Banharpali.

Though funds have been arranged and tender awarded for the project, OPGC has failed to acquire 277.30 acres of rayati land in Tilia village of Lakhanpur block, which is required for expansion.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had performed ground breaking ceremony for the expansion project twice - on August 23, 2004 and on February 23 this year - before the General Election.

Currently, ITPS generates 420 MW of coal fired power. It had earned `167.44 crore in fiscal 2012-2013, which is a 22 per cent rise over 2011-12 profit after tax (PAT).

The company registered the highest Plant Load Factor of 86.48 per cent and emerged as the lowest cost producers among all power generating stations in the country operating under State PSUs.

And with the PAT likely to rise further in the new financial year, the delay in acquisition of land is affecting the overall profit of OPGC.

Experts opined that once OPGC commissions the expansion, its profit will go up to Rs. 700 crore. As the delay is over the compensation package, they said OPGC should come forward and pay Rs. 20 lakh per acre as demanded by the villagers. Under these circumstances, OPGC will have to pay about Rs. 55 crore against 277.30 acres of rayati land.

Convener of OPGC Bistapan Surakhya Manch, Yangya Narayan Pradhan, said to add to OPGC’s profit, the Union Finance Minister announced during the annual budget that income tax will be exempted for newly constructed power plants for a period of 10 years. Pradhan said if income tax exemption is taken into account, the profit of OPGC will soar beyond Rs. 700 crore after expansion.

He further explained that the villagers have decided not to budge on their demand as they have already been displaced by Hirakud dam project and the Land Acquisition Bill, 2013 prohibits forcible acquisition if 70 per cent of land owners do not agree.


THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS