PM lays foundation stone for Mannavaram project

Laying the foundation stone for much awaited Rs 6,000 crore power equipment manufacturing plant project, a joint venture between the BHEL-NTPC at Mannavaram near Tirupati in Chittoor district on Wednesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh lauded the services of former chief minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy to the state.

Talking to reporters, he said “I am happy to lay foundation stone for the project a day before the first death anniversary of YSR who played key role bringing the project to the State.”

The Prime Minister said the project would provide direct employment to 6,000 and indirect employment to 30,000 people by the time of its completion in 2014-15. The project would also help in the development of this backward region of the state, he stated.

He said the BHEL-NTPC joint venture would produce equipment required for power generation of 5000 MW annually.    

Stressing the importance of power, Dr Manmohan Singh said the government had drawn up ambitious plans to ramp up power generation in the country during the 11th and 12th plan.

Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said that, “the project would focus on ‘balance of power plant’ equipment in the first phase which would be completed in 2012, before graduating to the production of turbines and boilers by 2014-15.”

Mr Shinde said that the project would not only reduce the demand and supply gap for power generation equipment and enable us to export the much-needed equipment to other countries.