Business
Hundreds of crores spent in 23 years, yet NTPC Tandwa project’s future uncertain
Hundreds of crores have been spent in the last 23 years on setting up the National Thermal Power Corporation’s (NTPC) power plant at Tandwa in Jharkhand’s Chatra district, but till date no electricity has been generated from it.
Preparations were underway to start power generation from the first unit of the plant this month itself, but it seems unlikely due to a violent clash between the locals, whose properties were acquired for setting up the plant, and the police on March 7.
The agitated locals set ablaze 56 small and big vehicles deployed at the plant and vandalised the offices. A total of 27 people were injured from both sides in the clashes between the police and the agitating displaced people.
After the violent confrontation, the situation in the project and the surrounding areas are tense. The administration has imposed prohibitory orders in six villages affected by the project.
So far, seven people have been arrested in connection with the violence. Also, an FIR has been registered against 100 named and 800 unidentified persons.
Police are conducting flag marches in the areas around the project ever since the incident. However, 60 per cent of the staff are not coming to the office.
In such a situation, it is almost certain that the proposed trial of the first unit of the plant in March would be postponed.
The project, ever since its foundation stone was laid in 1999, has remained in disputes. People, whose properties were acquired for setting up the plant, have been holding protests for the last two decades raising demands such as financial compensation, rehabilitation and jobs.
On March 6, 1999, the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had laid its foundation stone and people were hoping that a new chapter of development would begin in the area, which is infamous for Naxalism and backwardness. The target was to make the plant operational by 2002-2003.
Three units of the power plant are being installed here, aiming to produce 1,980 MW of electricity. And it was scheduled that the trial of the first unit, having the capacity of 660 MW, would commence in March 2022.
Equipped with modern technology, for the first time in the country, the thermal power plant is being established using the air-cooled condenser system technology that would bring down the water consumption to just 25 per cent.
With the completion of the project, apart from Jharkhand, electricity would also be supplied to Bihar, Odisha, Bengal and Northeast.
For the project, the land was mainly acquired from six villages and at that time the old law of land acquisition was in force.
Meanwhile, the government made a new law regarding land acquisition, wherein there is a provision that if the project for which the land has been acquired does not get started within five years, then the land will be returned to the farmers.
When the work of the project started after seven years due to delay in land acquisition and several other reasons, disputes erupted over compensation, rehabilitation, jobs to the affected. The work of the project continued to be affected due to dharnas, demonstrations, agitations.
In the last 23 years, there have been more than one hundred confrontations between the NTPC Management, Administration, Police and displaced persons. Also there were numerous incidents of firing, lathi charge and violence.
There were several agreements between NTPC, the administration and the villagers, but the dispute was never fully resolved.
In the meantime, compensation has been paid to most of the ryot or displaced persons. However, the project continued at a slow pace amid the regular interruptions.
About a year and a half ago, the dispute regarding the compensation for the acquired land erupted again. The organisation of the displaced locals started the agitation, saying the compensation received earlier was inadequate.
They intalled tents in front of the main gate of the NTPC project and have been continuously staging a sit-in for the last 14 months.
A senior official at NTPC says that the ryots from whom the land was acquired were given compensation in 2015 itself. “There is no such law that compensation should be given again for the same land. It’s just not possible.”
The agitating farmers have three main demands.
The first is that they should be paid compensation at the rate of Rs 20 lakh per acre and the ryots who have not been paid the compensation should be paid at the new rate along with interest.
The second demand is “each displaced family should be given a uniform rehabilitation package as presently the amount is being given to the people of different areas at different rates”.
Similarly their third demand is “Compensation in lieu of missing raiyati land, Gairmajarua Khas land, and houses, trees, ponds and wells situated on that land; 75 per cent grant to displaced ryots in NTPC-run schemes, and employment for every displaced family in NTPC”.
Mumbai, May 26: Indian equity markets traded flat in morning trade on Tuesday after fresh US strikes in southern Iran targeting boats attempting to lay mines and missile launch sites.
In early trade, Sensex was at 76,339.29, down 150 points or 0.20 per cent, while Nifty slipped 45 points or 0.19 per cent to 23,986.40. Earlier in the day, the benchmark indices opened at 76,224.14 and 24,004.10, respectively.
Among sectoral indices, IT, chemicals, media, PSU banks and metal stocks traded in positive territory.
Nifty IT rose 0.61 per cent, while Nifty Chemicals gained 0.58 per cent and Nifty Media advanced 0.54 per cent.
On the downside, consumer durables, healthcare, cement and realty indices were under pressure. Nifty Consumer Durables emerged as the top sectoral loser, falling 0.57 per cent, while Nifty Healthcare, Nifty Cement and Nifty Realty declined up to 0.3 per cent.
From the Nifty basket, InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo) declined over 1 per cent, emerging as one of the top laggards on the benchmark indices. Other notable losers included SBI Life Insurance Company, Max Healthcare Institute, Titan Company, Bharti Airtel, Eternal Ltd and Trent, which fell up to 1 per cent.
In the broader market, small-cap and mid-cap indices outperformed. Nifty Smallcap 100 climbed 0.59 per cent, while Nifty Midcap 150 gained 0.13 per cent.
Meanwhile, the volatility tracker India VIX slipped 1.43 per cent.
Market experts said that despite ongoing negotiations aimed at ending the West Asia conflict, there are no indications of an immediate resolution.
They noted that the recent US “self-defence strikes” in southern Iran have temporarily dampened sentiment, although markets are not viewing the development as the beginning of another phase of military escalation.
According to experts, investor risk appetite remains strong, with markets rallying whenever there are signs of easing tensions and a decline in crude oil prices.
“The sharp rally in the previous session reflected optimism about the resilience of the domestic economy,” they added.
However, experts believe that a resolution of the conflict and a further decline in crude oil prices could help ease macroeconomic pressures facing the economy.
Meanwhile, crude oil prices rose, with international benchmark Brent crude gaining 1.17 per cent to $98.39 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed more than 3 per cent to $93.90 per barrel.
Mumbai: CNG consumers have received temporary relief as Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) prices in the city have not been increased despite another fuel hike announced in Delhi and the NCR on Tuesday.
While Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) raised CNG prices in Delhi by Rs 2 per kg, taking rates to Rs 83.09 per kg from May 26, Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL) has kept CNG prices unchanged across Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
This means CNG in Mumbai continues to remain priced at Rs 84 per kg, following the earlier hike implemented by MGL earlier this month. The latest Delhi revision marks the fourth CNG price increase in less than two weeks amid rising global energy prices and pressure on domestic fuel retailers.
Although there has been no fresh hike in Mumbai today, auto-rickshaw unions in the city have already renewed their demand for a fare revision after the previous Rs 2 per kg increase announced by MGL on May 14.
Mumbai’s auto unions have argued that rising fuel costs and inflation have increased operating expenses for drivers. Union representatives recently met transport department officials and submitted revised fare calculations based on recommendations of the B Khatua Committee.
At present, the minimum auto-rickshaw fare in Mumbai stands at Rs 26, while passengers are charged Rs 17.14 per kilometre after the base fare. According to union calculations, the per-kilometre fare should now increase to Rs 18.17.
“The expenses on fuel have increased substantially for auto-rickshaw drivers. Inflation and higher Consumer Price Index levels have also affected daily running costs,” Mumbai Rickshawmen’s Union General Secretary Thampi Kurien had said while demanding a fare hike.
The latest developments come at a time when petrol and diesel prices have witnessed repeated hikes across the country over the past two weeks, increasing concerns over transportation costs and inflationary pressure in Mumbai and other metro cities.
Despite today’s relief for Mumbai commuters, transport operators and auto unions are closely monitoring fuel pricing trends amid fears that further increases in global crude oil and gas prices could eventually impact CNG rates in the city as well.
Mumbai, May 25: Gold and silver prices traded higher on Monday, rising up to nearly 2 per cent, supported by a weaker US dollar and softer crude oil prices as investors assessed prospects of progress in US-Iran peace negotiations.
On the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), gold futures (June 5) were trading 0.36 per cent or Rs 566 higher at Rs 1,59,245 at 10:48 am.
The yellow metal touched an intraday high of Rs 1,59,500, up 0.51 per cent or Rs 821 from the previous close of Rs 1,58,679. It recorded an intraday low of Rs 1,59,014, reflecting a gain of 0.21 per cent or Rs 335.
Meanwhile, silver futures (July 3) traded higher, surging nearly 2 per cent or Rs 5,400 to hit an intraday high of Rs 2,77,245 so far.
At the last count, the white metal was trading at Rs 2,76,427, up 1.7 per cent or Rs 4,581. It recorded an intraday low of Rs 2,75,428, still higher by 1.31 per cent or Rs 3,582.
Silver and gold had earlier opened at Rs 2,76,683 and Rs 1,59,150, respectively, on the commodity exchange.
According to commodity market experts, MCX gold continued to trade above the Rs 1,59,000 mark with a cautious-to-mildly positive bias.
“Immediate resistance is seen in the Rs 1,59,500-Rs 1,60,000 range, while a sustained breakout could push prices towards Rs 1,61,000. On the downside, support is placed around the Rs 1,58,000-Rs 1,57,500 levels,” they said.
They further said that MCX silver was also holding firm above the Rs 2,76,000 mark amid ongoing volatility, adding that a sustained move above Rs 2,77,000 may support further recovery towards the Rs 2,79,000-Rs 2,80,000 zone, while support is seen near Rs 2,73,000.
“Safe-haven demand and geopolitical developments continue to influence the direction of precious metals,” the experts noted.
In the international market too, precious metals traded higher, with COMEX gold rising 0.75 per cent to $4,557.30 per ounce. COMEX silver was trading over 2 per cent higher at $78.015.
In addition, global crude oil prices declined sharply, with international benchmark Brent crude falling 6 per cent to $97.16 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude tanked more than 6 per cent to $90.33.
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