* Prime Minister dedicates to the nation Mouda Super Thermal Power Project Stage-I of 1,000 MW
* Also lays foundation stone for 1,320 MW Stage-II of the project
* Appeals people to save power, asks teachers to inculcate the thought in students
* Jan Dhan Yojana to be launched on Aug 28
* NTPC to construct 1,000 toilets for students in Nagpur area
Staff Reporter
MOUDA,
Aug 21: In his maiden visit to this party of the country after taking
over as Prime Minister, Narendra Modi unveiled the priority of his
Government -- 24x7 power supply to all. For any country to progress,
priority has to be given to infrastructure. “If we can deliver durable
infrastructure, possibilities of development increase. Among all kinds
of infrastructure, power is the most important as it is crucial in
bringing about change in the quality of life of the people,” he said.
Addressing a huge public meeting at Mouda, at the public dedication of
Stage-I of NTPC’s power plant on Thursday, Modi said that uninterrupted
and stable power supply would attract industrial investment and this
would lead to employment generation and overall economic prosperity.
Modi lamented that even after so many years since Independence, power
had not reached every nook and corner of the country. Many areas were
facing acute power shortages even today. He said, “Considering the vital
importance of power supply, the Government is aiming at tapping all
sources of energy, with emphasis on clean energy, especially solar
energy.”
Narendra Modi pointed out that the Government was working towards
ensuring fuel for power projects for maximum production of electricity.
“However, people also need to co-operate us. We need to use generated
electricity judiciously. Save electricity should be the mantra. Students
should be taught this in their schools and at their homes. If we save
power, we also save money as it reduced our power bills,” he said.
Modi dedicated to the nation two units of 500 MW each at Mouda Super
Thermal Power Project of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in a
function held at Mouda on Thursday. These two units constitute the
Stage-I of the project. Modi also laid foundation stone for Stage-II of
the project comprising 1,320 MW of generation capacity. Maharashtra
Governor K Sankaranarayanan, Union Minister of State (Independent
Charge) for Power Piyush Goyal, Union Road Transport Minister Nitin
Gadkari, Ramtek MP Krupal Tumane, Additional Secretary (Power) D
Chowdhary, and Chairman-cum-Managing Director of NTPC Dr Arup Roy
Choudhury shared the dais on the occasion.
Modi’s arrival at Mouda got delayed due to heavy downpour and poor
visibility. However, he made it a point to visit Mouda soon after the
weather became clear. Modi won the hearts of the huge gathering, and
loud applause and cheers by starting his speech in Marathi. Underlining
the importance of power, Prime Minister recalled the plight of
debt-ridden farmers in Vidarbha, who were forced to commit suicide. “If
they had access to electricity, they could have pumped water necessary
to irrigate their fields. This would have saved their crop, which could
have reduced their debt, and they would not have committed suicides,” he
added.
Shedding light on the Government’s commitment towards augmenting the
nation’s power generation capacity, Modi said that the Government had
envisioned to increase power generation by all means -- solar, thermal,
hydro, wind, gas -- in the next few years. Stating that solar power, a
clean source of energy, had a great potential in India, Modi pointed out
that it was not expensive any more. “We must popularise solar power.
The day is not far when each family will meet its power requirements
through generation units on rooftops of their houses,” he urged.
Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari hoped that Nagpur was poised
to become a major power-centre in the country with Mouda project. The
project would attract investment to this area and result in generation
of employment opportunities. This would help pave way for all-round
development of the area, he said. “NTPC has assured to help in
construction of 1,000 toilets in the schools in Nagpur region,” said
Gadkari.
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power Piyush Goyal
threw light on the Stage-I and Stage-II of Mouda power project of NTPC.
“With the Stage-I being dedicated to nation today, we have added to our
power generation capacity. This would benefit all. Further, Stage-II
includes generation of 1,320 MW of power. Mouda project is poised to
become the biggest power station of NTPC in Maharashtra,” he added.
‘Join me to eradicate
graft from India’ Calling corruption
as the deadliest disease hampering the development of the country, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi appealed the people to join him in eradicating
this disease from India.
“My Government is committed to development. But, do not leave everything
to the Government. It is the duty and responsibility of people also to
help the Government in ensuring corruption-free development. Join me in
this mission and I am sure it will work wonders for all of us,” said
Modi to a thundering applause. He urged the people ‘not to cover up’
corruption at home, but show courage to eradicate it.
Jan Dhan Yojana
launch on 28th
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
announced launch of ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana’ on August 28. He
appealed to the farmers to avail of the benefits of the scheme, which
included a bank account, a debit card, and an insurance cover of Rs One
lakh. He also spoke of ‘Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana’, which
aims at providing sufficient water to farmers for irrigation.
CM, DyCM stay
away from event Chief
Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and other
members of the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) alliance
in the State stayed away from the programme. A day ago, Chavan had
announced the decision of not attending any of the programmes in Nagpur.
NTPC’s Mouda
power project With
an investment of Rs 5,459 crore in Stage-I and proposed investment of
Rs 7,921 crore in Stage-II, Mouda power project of National Thermal
Power Corporation (NTPC) is poised to be the biggest power station of
NTPC in Maharashtra.
Power from Mouda Stage-I is supplied to the states of Maharashtra,
Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir and Union
Territories of Daman Diu and Dadar Nagar Haveli. Situated at Mouda in
Nagpur district, the project will have ultimate generation capacity of
2,320 MW on completion of 1,320 MW (2X660MW) Stage-II of the project, of
which the target commissioning is in the early 13th plan period.
The main plant package of Stage-I was awarded to BHEL in 2008, the first
500 MW unit of the project commenced commercial operation in March
2013, and second in March 2014. NTPC supplies about 4,135 MW of power to
Maharashtra from its various power stations. The existing stations of
NTPC in the State are 1,000 MW Mouda Stage-I, and 1,967 MW Ratnagiri Gas
Power Station (A joint venture of NTPC, GAIL, MSEB, and financial
institutions). The company has 2,640 MW capacity under construction at
Mouda-II (1,320 MW) and Solapur (1,320 MW) that are likely to commence
commercial operations by early 13th plan.
----------- SIDELIGHTS-----------
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
won hearts of the people by starting his speech in Marathi. After
establishing an instant connect with the people, Modi started his speech
in Hindi and won loud applause and cheers from the crowd. Here are some
important statements from Modi’s speech:
* The Government has prioritised augmentation of power generation
capacity of the nation. We are concentrating on increasing power
generation through coal, solar, wind, hydro, urban waste and other
resources. We envision India with 24x7 power supply, and a day is not
far when every family will be able to generate power enough for itself
through roof-top small generation units
* At home and schools, ‘save power’ is the mantra that should be inculcated in the children
* Farmers are committing suicides in Vidarbha as they lack irrigation
mainly due to non-availability of uninterrupted power supply
* Join me in eradicating the disease of corruption from India
* Lokmanya Tilak was from Maharashtra and he asserted that ‘Swarajya’
(Independence) was everybody’s birth-right. I appeal to people of
Maharashtra to assert now that ‘Surajya’ (good governance) is everyone’s
birth-right
* The Government will be launching Jan Dhan Yojana on August 28.
Everyone enrolling under the scheme and opening bank account will get
Debit Card and insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh. This will be a step towards
economic independence of every section of the society
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