Kudankulam protests costing government Rs.50 mn a day
The protests against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu leading to delays in its commissioning have started pinching the government -- to the tune of Rs.50 million per day (Rs.5 crore) besides cost overruns, a top official said here on Friday.
"We are already facing a loss of Rs.five crore per day owing to these delays. This includes maintenance of the plant, payments to the site staff, and no power generation despite the plant being ready," said a worried S.A. Bharadwaj, Director (Technical), Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL).
The KK-1 and KK-2, the first and second units of KKNPP are being constructed with the help of Russia, and KK-1, the first of the two 1,000-MW VVER plants was planned for commissioning in December 2011, followed by KK-2 three or four months later.
However, the protests and the delays have led to a serious issue, and even the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is concerned, he pointed out, addressing media persons here Friday afternoon.
So far, a massive investment of nearly Rs.13,000 crore has already gone into the two plants, which has now shot up to Rs.14,000 crore in view of the commissioning delays, Bharadwaj added.
NPCIL's Director (Projects) K.C. Purohit said that in August-September last year, the 'hot run' of the new plant has already been carried out.
Besides KK-1 and KK-2, there are also plans to have two more 1,000 MW VVER plants at the site, however, because of the delay, that move also hangs in balance.
"Everything depends on the final clearance. Once the Tamil Nadu government gives the final okay, we shall start our countdown. In the next three to four months, we would be able to commission KK-1 and subsequently in eight to nine months, KK-2. If we are lucky, we may be able to start the second unit before that," said Purohit.
The NPCIL officials also cleared doubts over health and environment concerns of the locals and other concerned bodies on the occasion and are carrying out major awareness programmes on the issue on a regular basis.
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