BHEL not to go ahead with Singur project

In a setback to efforts by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government to have a mega power plant at the site in Singur abandoned by Tata Motors, BHEL late Saturday night informed the state authorities that they were not going ahead with the proposed project.

In a 12-point letter to West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd, the company cited non-feasibility as the reason for its decision, BHEL sources said here.

Confirming having received the letter, a state government official said, "However, the points raised by BHEL are strange with one citing that lack of availability of coal will not make it (the project) a viable one." "We are trying to sort the issue of coal," the official reasoned.

Earlier this month, officials of Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd had inspected the site in Singur where the state government proposed to set up a 1600 MW mega power plant in a joint venture. Keen to rope in the Navratna PSU and the country's premier power engineering organisation, the West Bengal government had earlier asserted land will not be a problem for the ambitious project.

"I don't think there will be any problem to get back the land from the Tata Motors Ltd, Industry Minister Nirupam Sen told reporters on the sidelines of the Eastern Print Pack-2009 conference here on November 26.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had earlier informed a Bengali TV channel that his government was trying to set up a mega power plant in Singur jointly with the central government.

Railway minister Mamata Banerjee had last week stated that the Railways was prepared to set up a rail coach factory at the site jointly with the state government or under a PPP model.

Bhattacharjee, however, claimed that the Railways had not sent any proposal to the state government for setting up a coach factory in Singur.