NLCIL commissions new lignite conveyor system

Sarat Kumar Acharya, CMD/Neyveli Lignite Corporation India Ltd (NLCIL) on Thursday commissioned a Lignite Conveyor System at the new thermal power station at Mine-1A of NLCIL in Neyveli.

According to a press release, the NLCIL contributes a major share of the power needs of Tamil Nadu through its four thermal power stations. The lignite (raw material) required for these thermal power stations are catered through Mine-I, Mine-II and Mine-1A. By taking into consideration the extent of power need, the NLCIL set up one more power station, the Neyveli New Thermal Power Station (NNTPS) with a capacity to generate power of 1000 Mega Watt (2X500 MW).

The new conveyor system will facilitate transportation of lignite from Mine-1A to the NNTPS site.

‘₹300 crore saved’

Commissioning the facility, Mr. Acharya emphasised the importance of cost control measures for all NLCIL projects and pointed out that Mine-1A had set an example by saving an expenditure of about ₹300 crore.

Subir Das, Director (Mines) NLCIL, said this 2000 mm width conveyor would be transporting lignite excavated from Mine-1A through the Mine-I stock yard to the NNTPS across a net distance of 6.12 km.

The approved capital expenditure of ₹397.43 crore for lignite supply conveyor was saved by using old conveyor systems. By utilising internal resources, the project cost of Mine-1A, which had an original approval for ₹1,458 crore as projection, would be reduced to ₹709 crore, he said.

Functional directors Rakesh Kumar, V. Thangapandian, P. Selvakumar, R. Vikraman and representatives of trade unions participated.