8 govt-run power plants shut because of pollution: Maharashtra

The Maharashtra  government today admitted that it had to shut down eight small-scale power generation plants due to the pollution they were causing.

The aggregate power generation capacity of these units was nearly 800 MW.

Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, who holds the energy portfolio, told the legislative assembly in the question hour today that the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) had directed the state to take action about the pollution from these units, which were over 33 years old.

The pollution from the units was so high that the Board seized the bank guarantee of Rs 10 lakh given for the Koradi power generation unit. Finally, four units of 105 MW each of Koradi thermal power project in Nagpur, two units of Parli power projects in Beed district, one each in Bhusaval and Paras were shut down by the department, Pawar said.

"It had also been suggested by the 11th five year plan that the units generating less than 100 MW be shut down," he said.

Pawar clarified that these units would not be handed over to the private companies, and employees would be accommodated in other projects.

"The efficiency of these units had gone down and the per unit of electricty expenditure was more than the rate of the power in the private sector," the minister said.