Bihar growth story attracting foreign investmnet
Technical experts from Ukraine and Uzbekistan will visit Bihar early next year to explore the possibilities of investing in the energy sector in the state.
This was conveyed to the CMD of Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited (BSPHCL), P K Rai, during his recent visit to Almaty in Kazakhstan to attend the two-day global meet on ‘Attracting foreign investment in advanced fossil fuel technologies’. Rai said many global players at the meet were curious about Bihar’s growth story.
“We have received encouraging response from some of the participating investors. They showed eagerness about knowing the government’s policies to encourage investment in a state like Bihar,” said Rai.
In order to attract international players, Rai discussed with them about the enabling environment for independent power producers (IPPs) in the state. Under the new industrial policy, several incentives are given to help felicitate the involvement of IPP firms to end the power crisis in the state, Rai said.
He also said the state government would invite international bidding from global players for its upcoming ultra mega power project (4000MW) in Bihar. The Union energy secretary, who also attended the meet, told the investors about the potential and opportunities in Bihar.
In view of the coal reserve for another 30 years, he said Bihar has already started exploring alternative sources of energy to meet the demands. Participants appreciated Bihar government’s policy for promotion of new and renewable energy sources to harness the potential of the renewable energy based power generation projects in the state.
Rai’s paper on ‘Opportunities for foreign investments in electricity generation’ was applauded by the global participants, mainly from India, China, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Switzerland, France and Canada.
Talking about the state action plan against climate change, Rai said 82.5MW biogas-based cogeneration projects in the state were already in operation and supplying power to BSPHCL. These sugar plants are: New Swadeshi Sugar Mills, Narkatiyaganj, Bharat Sugar Mills, SidhwalIia (Gopalganj), Harinagar Sugar Mills, Harinagar (West Champaran), HPCL Biofuels Limited, Sugauli plant and Lauriya plant.
He said the existing capacity of the small hydro projects in Bihar is 54.95MW. Talking about the prospects of gas power plants in the state, he said the gas pipeline connecting Haldia (West Bengal) and Jagdishpur (UP) will cross several districts of Bihar. M/s Sravanti is pursuing 450MW combined cycle gas plant in Rohtas district. In addition, a 206MW gas plant at Kumarbagh industrial area in Bettiah is jointly envisaged by IFFCO and Gail.
In order to make less pollutant coal-based power plants, Rai said the renovation and modernization (R&M) of the existing 2x110MW units at Barauni and Muzaffarpur were under progress to reduce auxiliary consumption and chimney emission. Sufficient green land has also been identified around future projects. Ash utilization is a part of individual stations environmental plan