Punjab govt gives nod for redevelopment of 1,764 acres of closed Bathinda Plant land

The Punjab Cabinet on Monday approved the 1,764 acres of land of the now-closed Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Power Plant in Bathinda.

Following the cabinet's decision, the land, belonging to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), will now be acquired by Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA), under the Department of Housing and Urban Development, through an 80:20 revenue-sharing scheme.

"PUDA has also been allowed by the Cabinet, which met here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, to raise loan up to Rs 100 crore for development and sale of the site with a state guarantee," read a press release.

The plant was shut down in 2018 as per the modalities worked out by a sub-committee set up on August 24, 2017, for the closure of the state-owned thermal plants in view of the Central Electricity Agency (CEA) guidelines to retire non-viable Thermal Power Plants (TPPS) that have exceeded 25-year life span.

Subsequently, another Cabinet sub-committee was set up on May 18 with Housing & Urban Development Minister, and Industries & Commerce Minister and Local Government Minister as members, to work out the modalities of the redevelopment of the Bathinda plant land.

"The state government decided to redevelop the site to bring prosperity to the area by maximizing direct and indirect employment generation opportunities. The PSPCL Board passed a resolution to hand over the land (barring the areas under the colony which is spread over approximately 280 acres) to PUDA for its appropriate development and sale under the 80:20 profit-sharing scheme," the release informed.

80 per cent profit from the sale of developed land, over and above the notional value of the land, goes to owner i.e. PSPCL in this case and 20 per cent is retained by PUDA.

( With inputs from ANI )