The delay in the commissioning of NTPC’s R10,000-crore-Barh-I power project in Bihar, where Russian company TPE is a contractor, will figure prominently in the talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday.
Given the upcoming Bihar polls, the Modi government wants see early commissioning of the project, which has been delayed by three years due to slow work by TPE, a power equipment supplier fully owned by the Russian government. Sources said TPE has told NTPC it will be able to complete the project in 2017 only. The Indian power generator is in favour of changing the contractor so that pending work could be fast-tracked.