KSK Mahanadi Power Project
The KSK Mahanadi Power Project is a coal-based thermal power plant(600×6) located in Chhattisgarh, India. It is owned and operated by KSK Energy Ventures, a private company.
Project description
The power plant is located at Nariyara village in Akaltara tehsil of Janjgir-Champa district, in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. The approved capacity of the plant is 3600 MW (6×600 MW). The engineering, procurement, and construction contract was awarded to SEPCO of China.[1]
The company has long-term coal-supply arrangements with the Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation and the Goa Industrial Development Corporation from the Morga-II and Gare Pelma-II coal blocks respectively. It has also been allocated tapering linkage arrangements with Coal India. [2] However, the supreme court judgment of 2014 on the Coal scam case led to cancellation of all allocations.
Progress
The project included six units, at 600 MW each. Three of the six units have been commissioned so far.
| Unit No. | Generating Capacity | Commissioned on | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 600 MW | 2013 May | Running [3] |
| 2 | 600 MW | 2014 August | Running [4] |
| 3 | 600 MW | 2018 January | Running [5] |
| 4 | 600 MW | ... | ... |
| 5 | 600 MW | ... | ... |
| 6 | 600 MW | ... | ... |
Present status
The company is facing major issues, and financial institutions have begun the process of finding a suitable buyer for the project. Apart from seeking investors, lenders also plan to change the management of a subsidiary which is implementing the raw water intake system for the project, and that of an associate developing the railway siding outside the plant boundary.
The company reported revenues of only Rs. 200 million (USD 3 million) in FY-2017, which is negligible if indeed 1,200 MW of production capacity was operational during that year. The single reason for non-operation is the non-availability of coal. In 2014, the supreme court had cancelled wholesale all coal allocations made since 1993 by the government of India, which has held a monopoly on coal mining since nationalization in the 1950s.
References
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-02-09. Retrieved 2014-03-20.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- Unit-I commissioned in May 2013
- V. Rishi Kumar (2013-05-20). "KSK Energy commissions 600-MW unit I of Mahanadi project | Business Line". Thehindubusinessline.com. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
- "KSK Energy Ventures Limited". Ksk.co.in. 2016-03-31. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
- "KSK MPCL commissions 3rd units of 600 MW;". Ksk.co.in. 2018-01-31. Retrieved 2018-05-15.