ANDHRA'S LONG MARCH Ch Prashanth Reddy / Hyderabad June 27, 2008, 0:04 IST With six major power projects involving an investment of over Rs 35,000 crore in the offing, Krishnapatnam, hitherto a remote and neglected area in Nellore district of southern Andhra Pradesh, is fast emerging as a power generation hub. The Union government has termed it the next "red hot zone", with a concentration of thermal power projects, like at Korba in Chhattisgarh.

Uttar Pradesh government has given its nod to the proposal of NTPC to set up a 4,000 mw power plant in Lalitpur district of the state. The state government would hold 30% equity in the plant and 75% of power generated would be used in Uttar Pradesh, Cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh told reporters. An MoU would be signed for the project soon, he said. The state Cabinet also decided to provide high-yield hybrid seeds to farmers at subsidised rates.

Plans to add 10,000 MW capacity in the next five years CONSOLIDATING GROWTH: Prasad Menon (left), Managing Director, with S. Padmanaban, Executive Director, Operations, Tata Power, addressing a press conference in Mumbai on Monday. Tata Power has reported a total revenue of Rs. 5,915.91 crore in the year ended March 31, 2008 against Rs. 4,715.32 crore in the previous year. The profit after tax rose by 24.8 per cent at Rs. 869.90 crore against Rs. 696.80 crore. The company has announced a dividend of Rs. 10.50 per share of Rs. 10 each.

Tata Power Company (TPC), the country's largest private power generation company, plans to invest Rs 25,000 crore to boost its capacity by six-fold to 12,800 mw by 2013. At present, the company is implementing new power projects to the tune of 5,500 mw.

Rajasthan Vidyut Utpadan Nigam has speeded up work for lighting up the boiler in the sixth unit of the Suratgarh super thermal power station after its successful hydro-test last month. The power plant's capacity will go up to 1,500 MW when the sixth unit of 250 MW starts functioning.Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Chairman and Managing Director S. K. Kalla has directed the plant officials to start power production on schedule after the boiler light-up exercise. Under construction

"Set up single agency to oversee implementation' Jairam Ramesh NEW DELHI: Annoyed at delays in the commissioning of power projects, Minister of State for Power and Commerce Jairam Ramesh on Monday said the functioning of some public sector units was "unprofessional.' New thermal station Mr. Ramesh made his displeasure known while inaugurating a 210-MW unit of the Amarkantak thermal station in Annupur district of Madhya Pradesh. The station, built by the Madhya Pradesh Power Generating Company, already has two 30-MW units and two 120-MW units operating.

The 210 MW unit at the Amarkantak Thermal Power Station of the Madhya Pradesh Power Generating Company in Anuppur district was synchronised today. The power station aleady has two 30 MW units and two 120 MW units operating. The Union minister of State for Commerce and Power Jairam Ramesh and the minister of Power of MP Dr Gauri Shankar Shehwar were present on the occasion. Jairam Ramesh said that synchronisation on oil of the 210 MW unit was an important milestone. It would be another four months before the unit is scheduled to be in full commercial operation, he added.

karnataka is in the process of commissioning several coal-based power projects. To discuss their feasibility, the state's electricity regulatory commission conducted a public hearing in

The power generation capacity in the state has risen by 2937 megawatts during the last four years. With an extension unit of Amarkantak thermal power plant becoming critical soon, 210 MW more is going to be added to this capacity. Giving utmost importance to power, the state government has provided MP State Electricity Board and its companies Rs 939 crore as capital investment.