Govt reviews status of 34 stressed thermal power projects

The government has reviewed status of 34 stressed thermal power projects with an estimated debt of about Rs 1.77 lakh crore.

"The government has reviewed the status of 34 stressed thermal power projects, as per the list provided by Department of Financial Services (DFS), with an estimated debt of about Rs 1.77 lakh crore," Power Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

The minister also informed the House that as per DFS data, the total advances towards the electricity generation sector as reported by scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) is about Rs 4.71 lakh crore and most of them are standard assets.

Neyveli Lignite Corporation of India Ltd (NLC) has identified Ragunathpur Thermal Power Station Phase-I, a stressed asset of Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), for acquisition.

NLC has also short-listed two stressed power assets for possible acquisition to augment its generation capacity.

NTPC has no proposal to take over stressed power projects or enable their lenders to operate on a contract basis, the minister added.

The key reasons for the power sector stress includes non-availability of regular fuel supply arrangements and lack of power purchase agreement tie-ups, among others.

The government, he said, has also taken a number of steps to ease the woes.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)