Why Assam wants a power plant unplugged

There are many examples of projects taken up on wrong fundamentals (for various reasons including political pressure) ending up as failures. The North-East offers many such instances.

But rarely you get an instance such as the 750 MW NTPC Bongaigaon (Assam), which has become an economic liability for the entire region so much so that the Assam government is now writing to the Centre to give NTPC a ₹1,000-crore largesse and save the State and the region from further bleeding.

At a time when electricity is available in the open market at a round-the-clock average price of ₹3/kilowatt-hour or unit, the North-Eastern States are in a take-or-pay agreement with NTPC Bongaigaon to buy power at ₹5.6/unit. Read More