The Nabinagar Thermal Power Station Project (NTPS) of Bhartiya Rail Bijlee Company Limited is a wholly owned

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

of the

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

, Ministry of Railways,

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. It installs a 4X 250 MW thermal power plant at Nabinagar in

Aurangabad district, Bihar Aurangabad district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state, India. It is currently a part of the Red Corridor. Aurangabad is also called "Chittorgarh" of Bihar because the number of Suryavanshi Rajputs is very high here. Aurangaba ...

, India. Nearly 90 per cent of the electricity generated from the plant is supplied to the railways to meet nationwide requirements and remaining 10 per cent is given to Bihar. In 1989, the

Chief Minister of Bihar The chief minister of Bihar serves as the head of the Government of Bihar, overseeing its administration and governance within the constitutional framework of India. While the Governor of Bihar holds the ceremonial role of the constitutional h ...

and veteran leader Satyendra Narain Singh conceived the proposal to set up a NTPC's super thermal power project at Nabinagar in Bihar's Aurangabad district to

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian statesman and pilot who served as the prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the Assassination of Indira Gandhi, assassination of his mother, then–prime ...

, the

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...

and Congress leader. However, the project went into limbo as the following state governments failed to follow it. In 2007, Manmohan Singh's government finally put a stamp of approval on it. The joint venture agreement was signed on 6 November 2007 and the company was incorporated on 22 November 2007. Commercial generation started from Unit-1 and 2 (2X250MW) of Bharatiya Rail Bijli Company Limited in 2016.

Need for the plant

The railways need the plant because of the demands of a globalising economy and mega projects of the Railways such as the planned Dedicated Freight Corridors across the country. The electricity from this plant will be utilized by Indian Railways for running electric trains in

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (; ) is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in Central India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the List ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

and

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

in the eastern and western regions of the country. The

Union Cabinet of India The Union Council of Ministers is the principal executive organ of the Government of India, which serves to aid and advise the President of India in execution of their functions.Article 74 of the ''Constitution of India'' It is chaired by th ...

has, in view of the high tariff charged by State Electricity Boards, approved the railways' proposal for using direct power supply from Central generating agencies from the 15 per cent unallocated central share of power. Railways are saving about Rs. 50

crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...

per annum due to implementation of these schemes for using direct power supply from NTPC/Central generating agencies. EPC is being undertaken by public sector major

BHEL Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is an Indian central public sector undertaking and the largest government-owned electrical/ industrial technology company. It is owned by the Government of India, with administrative control under ...

Location

The project site is situated on a state highway which is 25 km south of NH-2 from Barun, 9 km from ‘Nabinagar Road’ Railway Station and 100 km from Gaya Airport.

Inputs

Water requirement for the project is 60

cubic feet per second The cubic foot (symbol ft3 or cu ft)
, . is an Sone River Sone River, also spelt Son River, is a perennial river located in central India. It originates near Amarkantak Hill in Pendra (Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi district), Chhattisgarh and finally merges with the Ganges river near Maner in Patna, Biha ...

(

Indrapuri Barrage Indrapuri Barrage (also known as the Sone Barrage) is across the Son River in Rohtas district in the Indian state of Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union te ...

). Coal requirement for the project is 5 MTPA. The coal linkage of 5 MTPA has been accorded from Pachra & Pachra south block,

North Karanpura Coalfield North Karanpura Coalfield is located in Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Chatra and Latehar districts in the Indian state of Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its ...

Central Coalfields Limited Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) is a subsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL), an undertaking of the Government of India. CCL was established in 1956 as National Coal Development Corporation Limited and is a Category-I Mini Ratna company sinc ...

which is approximately 215 km from the project site.

Beneficiaries

The beneficiaries for the power generated from NTPC are Indian Railways (90%) and Bihar State (10%). PPA has been signed with both of the beneficiaries.

Installed capacity

References