A Mumbai firm has been awarded the contract to dismantle the 46-year-old Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant (GNDTP) in Bathinda and make way for a mega industrial park spread over 1,350 acres.
The firm made a final bid of Rs 164.6 crore to Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, PSPCL director, finance, Jatinder Goyal said on Friday.
“The official order will be released within two weeks to the successful bidder to start dismantling the defunct plant. Details of the top bidder in the e-auction held on Wednesday will be made public after completion of the official procedure of work allotment,” Goyal said.
“The PSPCL had fixed a reserve price of Rs 132 crore but we got Rs 32 crore above it. The e-bidding got an encouraging response,” he said.
The state cabinet has decided to develop a mega industrial park on 1,350 acres over which the plant is built. “The land will soon be handed over to Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) on a 80::20 revenue sharing scheme, as decided by the cabinet. Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) recently offered to install a solar power plant at the GNDTP site but that is not under consideration. The PSPCL may consider a renewable energy project at another site,” said Goyal, who also holds the charge of director, generation.
TOWERS TO STAND TALL
The four mega cooling towers of the power facility, that are often confused with smoke-emitting chimneys, are deemed to be monuments and will not be brought down.
Only civil structures, including chimneys and machinery used in power generation besides cables and pipes, will be disposed of.
The GNDTP plant was shut in 2018 as per the modalities worked out by a Punjab government’s sub-committee set up on August 24, 2017, for the closure of the state-owned thermal plants in view of the Central Electricity Agency (CEA) guidelines to retire non-viable thermal power plants that have exceeded 25 years’ life span.
SYMBOL OF MALWA’S PROGRESS
The foundation stone of the thermal plant, credited with playing a significant role in the development of the semi-arid Malwa belt of Punjab, was laid in November 1969 by then chief minister Gurnam Singh. He was the first Akali chief minister.
The power facility was dedicated to the first Sikh master Guru Nanak Dev to mark his 500th birth anniversary.
Construction started in 1970 and the plant was completed in 1982.
It had four thermal units, each having a generation capacity of 110MW. The first unit started generating electricity in 1974.
Opposition parties such as the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) besides employees of the state power department and farmer unions have been protesting against the decision to wind up the plant.
