State to set up 660MW thermal power plant at Durgapur
Times of India | 3 September 2025
Kolkata: Bengal govt plans to float a global tender for setting up a new 660MW thermal power plant at Durgapur after the Durga Puja. The govt has already written to the West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission (WBERC), seeking its approval to set up the project on a PPP model, sources at the state administration revealed.
"The govt has decided to set up a new 660MW supercritical thermal power plant on the unused land of the Durgapur Projects Limited (DPL), a state PSU under the power department in Durgapur. The power department has already sought WBERC's approval for the project. Once the approval comes, the process for floating a tender will be initiated. It is expected that the power department will seek an expression of interest after the Durga Puja," a source said.
According to the plan, the unit will be set up on a revenue-sharing model, where the interested parties will be asked to participate in a tariff-based bidding process.
"The govt will provide the land as well as common facilities like ash ponds and coal handling plants, etc. In addition, the state will also ensure the necessary coal linkages with Coal India Limited (CIL). The selected party will set up the plant on its own investment, and the entire generation of the unit will be bought by the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) at a mutually agreed price, for which a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) will also be signed," another source elaborated.
Both sources declined to reveal the proposed investment in the project. However, according to industry estimates, Rs 8-10 crore investment is needed per unit to build a greenfield supercritical thermal power plant. So, according to those calculations, setting up the unit will entail an investment anywhere between Rs 5,280 crore and Rs 6,600 crore.
Out of the 6,000MW, the units of the West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited (WBPDCL) generate 4,250MW altogether.
Two units of DPL supply 750MW, while close to 1,000MW comes to the state grid from WBSEDCL's various hydro and solar plants. The state also gets close to 1,000MW from the central sectors, like the NTPC, NHPC and DVC.
In a bid to bridge the gap between demand and supply, the state plans to set up two more units at Bakreswar (2x800MW) and one 660MW unit at Santaldih on a PPP model. But those plans are still in the very nascent stage, officials said.
The new supercritical unit at Sagardighi, designated as Unit 5 with a capacity of 660 MW, is expected to start generation later this year.