Bhagalpur Group

Company vice chairman Sanjiv Goenka said a 660-mw unit would be established in the first phase by 2012-13, and another two units of 660-MW each will be added in the second phase. The expense for the first phase would be Rs.32.5 billion.

"We began the initiative six months back by opening a new power company, Nalanda Power Company, which is a 100 percent subsidiary of CESC," Goenka told reporters after the company's annual general meeting.

Asked about coal resources, he said: "We have applied for captive as also linkages. We are still not sure what will be sanctioned. The minister of state for coal (Santosh Bagrodia) has assured us there will be no problem about the supplies."

The plant would supply power mainly to state capital Patna, which has a peak demand of 360 MW. "So, we want to take the distribution rights for Patna," he said.

The project, spread over 400 acres, will be funded through a 70:30 debt-equity ratio. The equity would come through internal accruals.

On the company's proposed 2,000 MW power project in Haldia of East Midnapore district, of West Bengal, Goenka said the CESC was now in possession of 241 acres.

About 334 acres were needed in the first phase. "We are awaiting environmental clearance, and hope to get it soon".

For the Haldia project, the CESC has finalised a 3-million-ton annual coal linkage with Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd There will be three 200-MW units in the first phase at an investment of Rs.25 billion.

The second phase would be completed by the second quarter of 2011-12, he added.

Apart from the above towns of Bihar, Jamshedpur and Dhanbad in Jharkhand, Port Blair in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Adilabad and Nalgonda in Andhra Pradesh, Dibrugarh and Nagaon in Assam, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar in Gujarat, Shimla and Sonal in Himachal Pradesh, Samba and Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir, are some others cities selected for satellite mapping.

Reports say that bigger cities have not been funded by the Centre under this scheme, It is expected that the local governments of those cities will initiate such mapping on their own. Delhi, for example, has launched a pilot programme on GIS mapping in some parts of the city. Satellite images for 120 towns in 33 states and Union Territories have already been procured  and aerial survey is being planned for 142 towns. Many of these towns, however, are common in both cases. Also, Survey of India has completed construction of 333 permanent ground control point monuments in 71 towns in 32 states and Union Territories and 454 monuments are under observation in 66 towns in 32 states and Union Territories. The government's initiative is a part of the ongoing National Urban Information System (NUIS).