Adani group told to arrange land on its own for its proposed $2 bn thermal plant in Jharkhand

Ranchi: The Jharkhand government has said the Adani Group, which signed an MoU with the state for a proposed Thermal Power Plant, would have to arrange required land on its own. “The Adani group has to arrange the required land for the power plant on its own,” an official release said quoting Energy Department Principal Secretary S K G Rahate here. [caption id=“attachment_2614242” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Gautam Adani - Reuters[/caption] “The MoU gives approval or disapproval rights to the state,” he added. Last month, media reports suggested that the company will soon sign a deal to set up a $2.2 billion coal-based power plant in Jharkhand, aiming to nearly double capacity this decade. Stating that interest of the state was kept during inking of the MoU, he said under the Jharkhand Energy Policy, the Adani group would provide 25 percent of its installed capacity to Jharkhand on the rate fixed by the Jharkhand State Electricity Regulatory Commission. Under the proposed power plant, electricity would be given to Bangladesh and being an international investor, it has to follow guidelines of the Central government, he said. The state has signed stage-1 MoU with one year term and the next stage would be inked only after completion of stage-1. It was signed on the basis of a report by a high-level committee headed by Chief Secretary Rajiv Gauba. The state government had on February 17 this year signed the MoU with Adani Power (Jharkhand) Limited for setting up 1600 MW (2x800 MW) coal based Thermal Power Project in the state. Flagship Adani Enterprises Ltd, which is fighting legal challenges to start a $7 billion coal mine near the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, wants to take its electricity generation capacity in India to 20,000 MW this decade through Adani Power. PTI