Summary:
Under the MoU the ash was to be transported by respective power plants within a periphery of 300 Kms for construction of roads by NHAI. LUCKNOW: To check the rise in cost of electricity in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections, the UP government has said that the transportation cost of fly-ash, generated in thermal power plants should be paid by the user.Until now, the transportation cost of fly-ash, which is generated by the burning of coal, is borne by the thermal power plants within a periphery of 300km. "It is therefore requested to consider that the transportation cost of fly-ash be borne by its user," the letter, duly signed by Sharma said.The letter states that around 800 lakh tonnes of fly-ash, which has been collected in various state-owned thermal power plants, would cost nearly Rs 11000 crore to the energy department resulting in increase in electricity cost.The development comes barely eight months after the UP energy department signed a MoU with the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) for transportation of fly-ash. The fly-ash is essentially used in construction of roads, bricks and is often mixed with soil to boost crop production.UP energy minister Srikant Sharma , in a letter (dated December 7) sent to Union power and coal minister RK Singh, has said that the transportation by state-owned thermal power plants would result in the rise of electricity cost by around Rs 0.39 per unit..