Korba in Chhattisgarh is really the Power Capital of India. NTPC's Super Thermal Power Plant in Korba is working at 90% Plant Load Factor (PLF), and the plants of the Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board (CSEB) are also highly efficient. There are huge coal reserves in the vicinity, offering cheap pithead power generation opportunities and there is enough water from the State's largest reservoir of Hasdeo Bango. 84% of India's coal is in Chhattisgarh and two other States. There are adequate coal supplies- South Eastern Coalfields Ltd, Bilaspur is doubling its production from 35 million tonnes to 70 million tonnes per annum.

As in the Green Revolution of the past, which concentrated on Punjab and Haryana, the new ‘Power Revolution’ may focus on cheap pithead power producing States like Chhattisgarh, which has the potential to produce upto 50,000 MW of power. On March 3, 2001, in the meeting of Chief Ministers on Power Sector Reforms, the Prime Minister welcomed Chief Minister Ajit Jogi’s offer of Chhattisgarh becoming the Power Hub of India. This offer is now becoming a reality : NTPC has already started construction on its 2640 MW Sipat Super Thermal Plant and another 600 MW plant in Korba. In response to our invitation, Government of Gujarat is putting up a 500 MW generation plant in Korba. Several other States are also interested. Power will be wheeled to the respective States. Private sector MoUs total another 1500 MW , and more projects are in the pipeline.

Chhattisgarh has excellent power evacuation infrastructure. It can transport and sell power to deficit areas in any part of India. CSEB levies minimal wheeling charges. The State has 44% forest cover; even so, Chhattisgarh Environment Protection Board pursues proactive policies so that power generation is environmentally sustainable. An added reason for investing in Chhattisgarh’s power generation sector is our prograssive power policy, that allows third party sales to buyers outside the State, with or without wheeling from CSEB. This also overcomes the usual escrow/guarantee bottleneck.

CSEB is one of few profit making State Electricity Boards. Power Sector Reforms are underway in Chhattisgarh. The user-pays regime has been adopted. There is no free power in the State. Subsidies, where applicable, are targeted. The process of Tariff rationalization is on. A hundred percent Electronic Metering project has been started.

Labour relations are very cordial in the power generating plants, with man- days lost being the lowest in the country. Private sector power generation investors are welcome as Chhattisgarh is inviting investment in greenfield power projects with the cheapest cost of production in the country.

We see Chhattisgarh emerging as the Power Hub of India - we have the capacity to cover half the demand-supply gap in the entire country, and have already tied up over 5000 MW of power generation in one year alone.