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Prafulla Das

3,000-MW Talcher Super Thermal Power Station dedicated to nation

The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, being received by the Governor of Orissa, Mr Rameswar Thakur, and the Chief Minister, Mr Naveen Patnaik, at Biju Patnaik Airport in Bhubaneswar on Monday. - Ashoke Chakrabarty

Bhubaneswar , Aug. 28

The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Monday said the Centre was committed to urgent reforms and massive investments in the power sector to cope with the increasing demand for power.

Dedicating the 3,000-MW Talcher Super Thermal Power Station to the nation through a video conference that was telecast live by Doordarshan from here, Dr Singh urged all political parties to take a long-term view of the development prospects and the needs of the people and take bold and forward-looking decisions in the power sector.

The power station at Kaniha, the largest power station of the country that is run by National Thermal Power Corporation, has six 500-MW units. The foundation stone for the project was laid by the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Stating that the Planning Commission had estimated that the electricity generation capacity would need to go up from the current level of 1.31-lakh MW to more than 8-lakh MW by 2030, Dr Singh said the need was to widen and diversify the choices and strategies.

"We have to develop all sources of energy including oil, gas, coal, hydel, solar and bio-gas and nuclear,'' Dr Singh said.

Orissa plant

The Centre has started preparation to establish a 4,000-MW capacity power plant in Orissa under the mega-projects programme.

As regards Orissa, the Prime Minister said the State had the potential of becoming the `power-house' of the county and expressed hope that it would make the best use of natural resources and push forward with determination.

On the Indian Oil Corporation's proposed refinery at Paradip, Dr Singh said work on the project had started for a 15-mt refinery and efforts were on to commission it by 2010.

The Union Power Minister, Mr Sushilkumar Shinde, and the Orissa Chief Minister, Mr Naveen Patnaik, also spoke on the occasion.

Observing that Orissa continues to be one of the most backward States on many parameters, Dr Singh said the State needed massive investment in human development, infrastructure and rural development.

More than 4,500 villages are still not connected by a road; over 9,000 habitations are yet to get electricity; almost 5,000 villages do not have a single telephone and large parts of the State are not irrigated.

The Prime Minister assured that through the Bharat Nirman programme the Centre would support the State Government to provide road and telephone connectivity in each village; to ensure complete electrification of the State and to add another three-lakh hectares under irrigation.

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