AGARTALA, June 18 (TIWN): NEEPCO’s upcoming 101 MW Manarchak thermal power plant isn’t ready for full scale generation, a highly placed source in the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) said here today. The source said that ONGC Chairman and Managing Director GK Sharaf on Wednesday met Petroleum Ministry secretary Saurabh Chandra and apprised him of the current situation at the Manarchak plant where ONGC is scheduled to supply gas later this year.

Asked about the current situation at Manarchak project, a source inside NEEPCO confirmed that the plant is ready to be commissioned in open cycle mode. “It would take two months time to make it partially operational. BHEL authorities and consultants of the Ministry of Power confirmed that the plant can be made operational on open cycle mode as of now which means that massive quantities of natural gas would be wasted and the post effect would impact the environment at large”, the source admitted.

An official of the ONGC said later this evening that despite consuming the full amount of 5 lakh cubic meter gas per day, NEEPCO’s Manarchak project would be able to generate barely 65-70 MW electricity against its installed capacity of 101 MW.

“The steam turbine is not yet commissioned, neither their treated DM water tanks are ready nor the pipeline to supply water from the nearby river Gomati is laid, work is still in progress but at a very slow pace”, the official said.

Sources said that Union power secretary Pradeep K Sinha recently wrote to Petroleum Secretary Saurabh Chandra to ensure gas supply to NEEPCO plant. CMD of ONGC GK Sharaf later met Petroleum secretary and assured him that gas would be supplied by the end of this year.

NEEPCO project head SR Biswas recently flayed the ONGC authorities for stating that manarchak project was far from completion and said that the former had served ‘gross misinformation’. “Anybody can go to see the project and check out the facts”, he had challenged.