Late Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee laid the foundation stone of the 1980 MW North Karanpura Thermal Power project of the National Thermal Power Corporation(NTPC) in Tandwa village of Chatra district in Jharkhand. This was on March 6, 1999. 

Twenty-three years later this supercritical thermal power project of the NTPC is ready to start the generation of 660 MW units powered enough to generate up to 691 MW of electricity. NTPC personnel have already completed test-trial generation for 72 - hours successfully on January 18.

Though the plant is ready to generate power for commercial purposes, official procedures and clearance are awaited. Normally, after the successful completion of the test- trial, the generation of electricity for commercial purposes takes a fortnight.

When contacted NTPC spokesperson Ramesh Dubey said that the date to start generation for commercial purposes is yet to be finalised. “ We are going to announce the date, time, venue, and name of the inaugurator after management and top brass takes a decision in this regard”, Dubey said.

After the generation of 660 MW starts at the unit of the NTPC’s North Karanpura Thermal Power plant in Tandwa, Chatra district, Jharkhand will get 167 MW of electricity in accordance with the terms and conditions mentioned in the agreement between the NTPC and government of Jharkhand.

As per the same terms and conditions signed by NTPC and other partners, Bihar, Odisha, and West Bengal will get 1980,688 and 396 MWs of power from its North Karanpura Thermal Power plant in Tandwa, Chatra district, Jharkhand.