The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : State against status change for NTPC unit: Minister

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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

State against status change for NTPC unit: Minister

Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Electricity Minister A.K. Balan has said that the State will not accept, under any circumstances, the Centre’s move to shift to the Central pool the 360-MW station of the National Thermal Power Corporation at Kayamkulam.

This station was set up as one fully dedicated to Kerala, which meant that the entire electricity generated there would be for the State.

It also meant that, whether Kerala drew electricity from there or not, it should shoulder the responsibility of meeting the financial liabilities of keeping the show going there. When shifted to the Central pool, all the southern States would have a claim on the power generated there.

Talking to the media here on Friday, Mr. Balan said that, since 1995, when the station was set up, the State had paid the NTPC a sum of Rs.1,474 crore towards ‘fixed charge’ (a monthly amount fixed on the basis of calculations to recover within a specific period the investment the NTPC had made on the station along with a fair margin of profit). The total investment on the project in 1995 was Rs.1,200 crore.

Now, the naphtha prices had come down and the other southern States were keen on sharing the power generated at Kayamkulam.

The Union Ministry for Power had asked the States concerned to discuss the matter at the Southern Regional Power Committee and take a decision. “There is no need for any such discussion. This station is fully dedicated to Kerala [as per the original agreement with the NTPC],” Mr. Balan said.

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