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Row Over Nellore Power Plant: Power For 5 Million Or Reason To Fear?

A Rs. 20,000 crore thermal project in Nellore, which is the largest Foreign Direct Investment-driven project in the country, is today the boast and pride of Andhra Pradesh. The 2640 MW Sembcorp Gayathri power complex is a collaborative project with a Singapore-based firm and is expected to supply power to over five million people.  

The plant was inaugurated by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Environment Minister Prakash Javedkar and Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu.

Talking of how thermal power plants is one of the best ways to tackle the power crisis in several parts of the country, Mr Javedkar said, "In the last 20 months I've approved 26 thermal power plants of 20000 MW capacity and we've sanctioned six hydra power plants of 3800 MW capacity and Nellore becomes the first district having 11 thermal projects of 15800MW capacity. This is the largest capacity of energy generated in a single district."
 

Environmentalists are however raising an alarm on this point that this belt will have too many coal-based projects. They allege that clearances have been given recklessly as such large scale coal combustion will contaminate land, water and air.

The company, however, insists the plant has been designed according to World Health Organisation standards with minimal emissions. "Sembcorp has a subsidiary company which is using fly ash to produce lightweight concrete which has high thermal resistance. Therefore, we also plan to build a plant to use this fly ash to make these light weight concrete components and eventually we can also make concrete panels and modular housing," claims Tang Kin Fei, Group President & CEO, Sembcorp.

Experts say a cumulative environmental appraisal is necessary to understand the impact of this cluster of thermal plants on lives and livelihoods.

Source: NDTV