Energy pioneer

India’s first power project fuelled with gas from Bangladesh is being set up by Oil and Natural Gas Ltd. “The project would largely meet the entire electricity requirement of the seven northeastern states by 2012,” says, RS Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director, ONGC. The 726 MW plant is coming up at Palatana, in Tripura, bordering Bangladesh, which has proven gas reserves of 8.4 trillion cu ft. The project combined with transmission links and gas pipelines is slated to bring in investments of around Rs 90 billion, the largest ever single investment in India’s remote northeastern region. It is being developed by the ONGC Tripura Power Co (OTPC), a new company formed for commissioning the project and, is slated to complete by December 2011.