Bhilai power plant stops generation due to coal shortage

October 6th, 2009 RAIPUR - Bhilai Steel Plant, the flagship unit of the state-owned Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), is facing a severe water crisis that could hit its production, an official said Tuesday. "It's a severe crisis.

September 16th, 2009 RAIPUR - Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh Wednesday justified the commercial tax department's decision Monday to attach a bank account of Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) to recover Rs.408 crore due as entry tax amount. "The government has right to levy entry tax and Bhilai Steel Plant should have abided by government decision," Singh told reporters here.

September 15th, 2009 RAIPUR - The Chhattisgarh government has frozen the bank account of the Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), the flagship unit of the state-run Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), for failing to clear tax dues. The Bhilai unit has to pay Rs.408 crore to the state in tax dues, government officials said.

August 21st, 2009 LUCKNOW - Power generation in energy-starved Uttar Pradesh could see its electricity generation going down by a further 800 MW to 1,000 MW daily on account of poor quality of coal, officials say. Irked over the quality of coal, the state-owned power generation firm Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpandan Nigam has lodged a protest with the three main suppliers of the feedstock -- Bharat Coking Coal, Northern Coalfields and Central Coalfields -- the officials said.

August 12th, 2009 BHILAI - Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) is set to bag a 2,028-hectare block in the Rowghat iron ore mine deposits in Chhattisgarh to feed its flagship unit, the Bhilai Steel Plant, as it has obtained the final clearance from the environment and forest ministry. "Bhilai Steel has obtained the final clearance from the ministry early this month for the Rowghat project," an official told IANS Wednesday, adding that company had been seeking the deposit since 1983.

July 23rd, 2009 RAIPUR - A 500 MW power plant in Chhattisgarh that stopped production July 14 due to coal shortage has resumed generation, a company official said Thursday. The NSPCL plant, set up by state-run National Thermal Power Corporation and the Steel Authority India Limited, is located at Bhilai in Durg district, some 30 km west of here.

July 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Coal shortage is crippling the power production of state-run NTPC Ltd, which has reported a loss of 126 million units in generation between April and June this year, a union minister said here Monday. "NTPC's power stations at Farakka, Kahalgaon, Sipat, Talcher and Korba were affected due to shortage of coal supply," Minister of State for Power Bharatsinh Solanki told the Rajya Sabha.

July 11th, 2009 RAIPUR - India's largest power producer NTPC, formerly National Thermal Power Corp, Sunday signed an agreement with the Chhattisgarh government for setting up a 4,000 MW coal-fired power plant on an investment of Rs.20,000 crore. Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, who was present during signing of the pact, said the plant would be set up in the coal-rich Raigarh district.

June 26th, 2009 RAIPUR - Faced with a rare water crisis that could hit production, state-run steel manufacturing unit Bhilai Steel Plant is now seeking the Chhattisgarh government's help for making alternative arrangements for water. "It's a rare crisis.

June 24th, 2009 BANGALORE - Power and automation technology major ABB has bagged orders worth Rs.220 crore from Tata Projects to provide power solutions for a super-critical coal-fired power plant in Andhra Pradesh, the company said Wednesday. The 2x800 MW Krishnapatnam thermal power plant will deploy super-critical technology to ensure more efficient power generation and lower carbon dioxide emissions, ABB said in a regulatory statement.

June 16th, 2009 RAIPUR - State-run steel manufacturing unit Bhilai Steel Plant has set a target of 5.8 million tonnes of hot metal production for 2009-10, it was announced here Tuesday. The Bhilai unit, the largest steel producing plant of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), is planning to produce 5.8 million tonnes of hot metal, 5.53 million tones of crude steel and 4.77 million tones of saleable steel during the current fiscal, an official statement said.

May 9th, 2009 RAIPUR - An 11-year-old white tigress was found dead in a zoo Saturday in Bhilai city of Chhattisgarh, an official said. The tigress was found dead in Maitri Bagh Zoo in Bhilai in Durg district, about 30 km west of capital Raipur.

March 30th, 2009 MUMBAI - Tata Power has commenced commercial operations of a 250 MW coal-based thermal unit at the Trombay Thermal Power Station, it said here Monday. With this, the Trombay plant's generation capacity will be increased to 1,600 MW from 1,350 MW, the company said in a regulatory statement.

February 28th, 2009 CHENNAI - External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will Saturday lay the foundation stone for Neyveli Lignite Corp's (NLC) 1,000-MW thermal power plant in Tuticorin. 'The Rs.59-billion (Rs.5,900 crore) project has a couple of special features like the reverse osmosis desalination plant, gas insulation switchyard and pile foundation apart from NLC's first venture into power generation with coal,' NLC chairman and managing director A.R.

January 1st, 2009 RAIPUR - Bhilai Steel Plant concluded April-December with the best-ever performance as its production touched 4.04 million tonnes (MT) of hot metal, 3.87 MT of crude steel and 3.31 MT of saleable steel, a company official said Friday. The plant, located some 30 km west of Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur, is the flagship unit of the state-owned Steel Authority of India (SAIL).