Rajghat Power House will be shut, but will take time, says Minister

300 employees will be transferred to other plants in a phased manner

Outliving its shelf life of 25 years, the ailing Rajghat Power House (RPH) is turning out to be a huge burden for the Delhi government. While the government would want to permanently shut the fuel-guzzling plant, it is unable to do so owing to the 300-odd employees working in it.

Running for 26 years, decommissioning of the State-owned coal based plant has made no headway. The Delhi government, like other stakeholders of the Capital’s power sector, has also been keen on locking down the 135 mega watt (MW) plant for several years now. But the Aam Aadmi Party government’s latest deliberations in this regard seem to have hit a roadblock.

“We cannot decommission the plant as of now as there are around 300 employees working in it and transferring them in bulk to other departments is almost impossible. But, eventually it will be shut as it is turning out to be quite expensive for the government. Pollution emanating from the plant is another problem,” said an official. The government is, therefore, planning to shut the plant in a phased manner. RPH has two units of 67.5 MW each.

Speaking to The Hindu , power minister Satyendar Jain said, “A clean environment for Delhi is our top priority. The plant will be shut, but it will take some time. Employees will be transferred to other plants and the power department in phases.”

On a monthly basis, the government is shelling out Rs.2.5 crore towards the employees of RPH. Overall expenditure on the plant too has been spiralling on a yearly basis. Delhi government’s generating company, Indraprastha Power Generation Company Ltd (IPGCL), that runs the plant incurs as much as Rs.45.78 crore only on its repair and maintenance. This cost has to be borne despite the fact that the thermal power plant has been shut since May this year. For the months when it is operational, the company has to bear a whopping Rs.152.28 crore as “operating costs”.

Besides, the 25-year long power purchase agreement (PPA) of the discoms with Rajghat plant expired in May and the power utilities are in no mood to renew the agreement. The plant, hence, has been rendered defunct for the longest time ever since it was established.

A nightmare in terms of its tonnes of toxic emissions, power experts suggest it is about time for the Delhi government to finally shut the oldest and the lone functional coal-based power plant in the city. Particulate Matter (PM) at the Rajghat plant has exceeded the standard of 150 mg/Nm3 most of the time. In August 2015, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had directed RPH and Badarpur power plant to bring PM levels within permissible limits.

Delhi has four power generation plants out of which three are with the government and one is that of discom Tata Power (TPDDL). Electricity purchased from these four plants is almost 70 per cent higher than that of other State Generation Stations (SGS).