UP Govt. Approves 18,000 Cr. Thermal Power Plants in Obra

Uttar Pradesh government has approved two thermal power units in Sonbhadra’s Obra, which will be developed at a cost of Rs. 18,000 crore. Each of these plants will have a generation capacity of 800 MW and will constitute the ‘Obra D’ facility.

Projects Will be Executed by UP Government-NTPC JV

Obra D projects will be executed by a 50-50 joint venture of Uttar Pradesh Government with the Central Government-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for formation of this Joint Venture (JV) was signed between UP government and NTPC at the Global Investors Summit, which was held at Lucknow in February 2023.

The projects have been allotted 500 acre of land as of now, which can later be increased as per the requirement of the project.

While speaking to the press, Mr. AK Sharma, UP Power Minister, shared that one of the 800 MW units at Obra D is expected to be completed in a period of 50 months, while the second 800 MW unit is targeted to be ready 6 months after the completion of the first unit, that is, in a period of 56 months.

Obra Power Projects to be Funded Partly by Equity, Partly through Financial Institutions

About 30% of the project development cost for Obra D, that is approximately Rs. 5,400 crore, will be raised through the sale of equity shares of the aforementioned JV. The remaining 70% of the project’s funding will be procured through various financial institutions.

Obra D to be Uttar Pradesh’s First Ultra Supercritical Power Unit

Obra D thermal power project will be the first ultra-supercritical unit in Uttar Pradesh. Supercritical thermal power plants typically function with steam temperatures of over 600 degree Celsius and steam pressure over 240 bar, which reduces coal consumption and increases their efficiency.

Elaborating on this aspect of the power plants, UP Power Minister said, “The consumption of coal will be lower at the new plants because of use of advanced technologies while transportation cost of the coal will also drop significantly due to the close location of NCL (Northern Coal Fields) coal mines”.

The Obra D Facility is located close to the Bina Coal mine of the NCL.

Power from Obra D to Substantially Augment UP’s Power Generation Capacity

While addressing the press, UP Power Minister said that as of now, the state’s power generation capacity sits at around 7,000 MW. Therefore, the Obra D facility with its 1,600 MW generation capacity will be a substantial addition to it.

Further, Mr. AK Sharma stated that with the commissioning of Obra D, electricity rates in the state are expected to come down. Electricity from Obra D will be available at a tariff of Rs. 4.89 per unit against the current average tariff of Rs. 5.50 per unit.