India’s top sugar producer Bajaj Hindusthan took another step towards becoming the top private sector producer in Uttar Pradesh with the formal inauguration of its 1,980 megawatt (Mw) thermal power plant in Lalitpur district.

While the first 660 Mw unit of the plant is operational, the remaining two units are still being set up and are scheduled to be ready by the end of this fiscal.

In the backdrop of the domestic sugar sector passing through a bad phase characterised by mounting farmers’ arrears, debt and multiple court cases, the Bajaj Group is focusing big time on power sector. It already has 5 operational thermal power units of 90 Mw totaling 450 Mw, which have been set up near its sugar factories. These units use bagasse (a sugarcane byproduct) to fire its plant during the crushing season and during offseason, they become coal-fired plants.

Earlier, the Group had shut down three sugar mills in UP and now owns 12 operational units.

Its 1,36,000 tonnes crushed per day (TCD) capacity is down by around 21,000 TCD to about 1,15,000 TCD.

The 3X660 mw plant has been built by the Lalitpur Power Generation Company Limited (LPGCL), a Bajaj Hindusthan Group entity, which has now rebranded itself as Bajaj Group. The total investment in the plant is pegged at around Rs 16,000 crore.

In fact, the 660 unit was commissioned and synchronised in June 2015, and after mandatory testing has now attained commercial operations. It would, however, be months before the plant could attain full load factor, since the transmission lines are still being installed to evacuate full power. For the time being, the plant would be supplying around 400 Mw to grid.

This is the first major thermal power unit in the state private sector on grid after Lanco’s 1,200 Mw (2x600) Anpara C thermal power plant in Sonebhadra district. Bajaj’s unit is the first thermal power plant in UP based on super critical technology.

Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Power has a 1,200 Mw thermal power plant in Roja, Shahjahanpur district.

The Bajaj plant was inaugurated by Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav. While UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav was slated to inaugurate the plant, he skipped the event at last moment leaving the organisers high and dry.

The state has accorded top priority to energy sector apart from infrastructure for faster economic development. With UP elections due in early 2017, Yadav has been keeping track of the major projects. UP has projected to double power availability to 21,000 Mw by 2016-17, when the peak hour demand is also pegged at a whopping 23,000 Mw.