GUWAHATI, March 13 ? The Power Minister Sri Devanand Konwar today admitted that the Bongaigaon Thermal Power Station (BTPS) of the Assam State Electricity Baord (ASEB) has turned into a white elephant and under the present circumstances, it would be difficult to revive the project. Replying to a call attention motion by Sri Hemendra Nath Brahma (BDLP) in the State Assembly today. The Power Minister said that the BTPS has turned into a totally unviable and uneconomic project. The Minister said that three of the four units of the BTPS which had an installed capacity of 240 MW are out of order and only one unit is run from time to time to generate about 20 to 30 MW of power. He said that the cost of production of power in the unit is about Rs 7 per unit while the ASEB can procure power at a much cheaper rate from NEEPCO, NHPC or the Meghalaya State Electricity Board. He also expressed the view that the original decision to set up the power plant in Bongaigaon was not correct as the plant has to import coal from Ranigarj in Bihar, about a thousand kilometres away from its location. Sri Konwar said that the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) recently carried out a survey and according to it, an amount of Rs 480 crore would be required to repair and renovate the project. He pointed out that spending such a huge amount on the BTPS would not be viable as ?we can go for a totally new power plant with that amount of money.?
He revealed that while a few years back an American company Ogden Inc had expressed its desire to take over the plant, at present no private party is willing to do so. The State Government had discussions with NTPC in this regard, but the corporation officials expressed the opinion that they can repair and renovate the project only it the Government pays the money for the same. Earlier, raising the matter, Sri Brahma expressed serious concern at the present condition of BTPS. He said that as the power plant has to import coal from Bihar, the Government should examine the possibility of providing transport subsidy to its.