Yelahanka gas plant commissioned after 10 years being in the pipeline

Ten years after the foundation stone was laid, the 370-megawatt (MW) capacity combined cycle gas plant in Yelahanka was inaugurated by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday.

The Chief Minister and Energy Minister K. J. George both promised residents, who have been protesting against the commissioning of the plant on grounds of pollution, they will ensure noise from the plant will be kept to a minimum.

“It has been brought to my notice that residents of nearby apartments have concerns about the noise from this gas plant. I promise them that we will reduce this noise as much as possible,” said Mr. Siddaramaiah who had laid the foundation stone for the plant in his previous tenure as Chief Minister.

Stressing on the need to achieve self sufficiency in electricity for socio-economic development, he said: “for the development of agriculture, industries and for domestic consumption, electricity is needed. Agriculture and industries create jobs and through jobs the gross domestic product (GDP) of the State and the country will increase. This plant has been commissioned as a step in the direction of becoming self-sufficient in the power sector”.

The gas plant is a project of Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) and around ₹2,500 crore investment has gone into it till now. “This plant should have been commissioned years ago. But owing to a fire accident, work had stopped for a year and then because of a lack of initiative by the previous government, the plant was shut down even after it was repaired. There was also the Supreme Court stay which was brought upon by the residents citing noise pollution. When we came back to power, we sorted out all the issues and gave a strict deadline for the officials. With cooperation even from the Union government, we could complete the work and commission it,” Mr. George said.

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who also spoke during the inauguration, said that the whole world is looking at Bengaluru and Karnataka, and hence the government should provide proper water and electricity to the citizens.

Mr. Siddaramaiah announced a bonus of ₹5,000 to all the employees of the KPCL combined cycle gas plant. “I am announcing this in my capacity as chairman of KPCL,” he said.

Published - September 25, 2024 07:00 am IST