Coal linkages for 11 supercritical units of 660MW each, which will come up in the 12th Plan period of 2012-17, have been sanctioned

The Indian government is believed to have approved fuel linkage for 11 thermal power projects of NTPC Ltd and Damodar Valley Corp Ltd (DVC) totalling an investment of over Rs29,000 crore, reports PTI.

"Coal linkages for the 11 supercritical units of 660MW each, which would come up in the 12th Plan period (2012-17) have been sanctioned," a coal ministry source said.

These 11 units include nine units of NTPC's power plants at Nabinagar (3x660MW), Meja (2x660MW), Solapur (2x660MW) and Mouda (2x660MW) and two units of DVC's Raghunathpur plant in West Bengal.

The global tender for sourcing equipment for these units was floated in October last year.

Supercritical units are environment friendly and improve efficiency of thermal power projects. The equipment would be used in five power projects in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

The Cabinet committee on infrastructure gave its approval to the bulk tender in September last year.