BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has requested the Ministry of Coal for tapering linkage to meet raw material requirement of the Orissa Power Generation Corporation (OPGC) which is in the process of expansion. ‘The State has written to the Ministry of Coal requesting for tapering linkage for OPGC expansion plan,” Chief Secretary BK Patnaik told mediapersons here on Tuesday after reviewing progress of the third and fourth units of the State-run corporation. Tapering Linkage is the short-term linkage which is provided to those coal consumers who have been allocated captive coal blocks for meeting the coal requirements of their linked end-use plants (EUPs) in such cases where the production of coal from these blocks does not synchronize with the requirement of the EUPs. OPGC is setting up two more units having an installed capacity of 660 MW each at Banharpali in Jharsuguda district. The State-run PSU has two units of 210 MW each at its Ib Thermal Power Plant having facility to set up four more units. The Chief Secretary said that construction work for OPGC’s third and fourth units will begin by the year-end. The corporation will require coal linkage as its captive coal block is unlikely to be operational within the stipulated time. OPGC’s expansion project is likely to be commissioned by 2016-17. The State PSU has been allocated coal block at Manoharpur and dip-side of Manoharpur in Sundargarh district to meet the requirement of coal for its third and fourth units. Although OPGC, a joint venture company between the State Government and AES Corporation, was allocated coal blocks by the Ministry of Coal, it could not develop the area due to delay in obtaining statutory environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Initially categorised as ‘no-Go’ zone, the Ministry of Environment and Forests changed its category to ‘Go’ zone in June last year following pressure from the State Government.
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