600 MW Khedar unit commissioned on full load
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 1
Haryana’s prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Thermal Power Project (RGTPP), Khedar, in Hisar district today created history by breaking all previous records of fast project implementation when its first 600 MW unit was commissioned on full load in a record period of 38 months.

While complimenting engineers on this landmark achievement, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said it was a matter of pride for Haryana that India’s first sub-critical unit of 600 MW capacity had been successfully commissioned in the state. Hooda said the mandatory 14-day trial operation of the unit shall now commence shortly, and by the end of April, the unit was expected to be declared on commercial operation.

He said the work on unit-2 was also progressing as per schedule and it would also be synchronised by April 20. The Chief Minister reiterated that this major achievement was another milestone towards fulfilment of the commitment made by the government to the people of Haryana for adding 5,000 MW generation capacity during the 11th Five-Year Plan.

Giving details, he said since its inception, the project had been crossing all major milestones on or ahead of schedule. The work for turnkey implementation of the Hisar project was awarded during January 2007. The engineering, procurement and construction cost of Rs 3.14 crore per MW for this project was the lowest in the country and was being talked about as a new benchmark. He added this was the first project in the northern region to be awarded the Mega Project status by the Ministry of Power during November 2006.

He said earlier also the RGTPP had created history by completing the hydraulic test of the boiler of unit-1 on February 28, 2009, months ahead of scheduled date of May 28. The boiler of unit-1 was lighted up on August 22, 2009, and it was successfully synchronised on December 29, 2009, in a record period of 35 months.