5 days ago
Construction of KGS Units 5, 6 picks pace; first pour of concrete to commence by November
As the excavation has been completed, the construction activities of the Kaiga Generating Station Units 5 and 6 (KGS 5 and 6) Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor units with a total capacity of 1,400 MW have gained momentum, and the first pour of concrete is expected to commence by November.
Briefing the press at the Media Outreach Programme at Kaiga site of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) in Uttara Kannada district on Tuesday, Kaiga Site Director B. Vinod Kumar said that the project cost of ₹21,000 for KGS Units 5 and 6 was to be released over a period of five years.
He said that KGS Unit-1, which was under shutdown owing to En Masse Coolant Channel Replacement (EMCCR) and En Masse Feeder Replacement (EMFR) exercises, would last for 18 months and is scheduled to resume operation on October 30, 2026.
Mr. Vinod Kumar said that the four units at the Kaiga site had set benchmarks comparable with international standards, and ever since the commercial operation of the units began, the Kaiga site had generated a total of 1.3 lakh million units of power and had avoided the generation of about 1.2 lakh tonnes of carbon dioxide.
CSR
'As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, so far, ₹110 crore has been spent by NPCIL-Kaiga. Additional ₹20 crore has been spent towards conservation of wildlife at Kali Tiger Reserve,' he said.
Refuting the allegation of locals not being given preference, Mr. Vinod Kumar clarified that out of the 2,057 contract workers, 1,759 (84%) belonged to Karnataka, and of them, 1,601 were from Uttara Kannada district. And of the 595 Group B and C employees, 483 (81.3%) were from Karnataka, he said.
Coaching
Regarding the recruitment notification of 390 vacancies, he told the press that as it was an all-India examination, they would be offering coaching to the local youths to prepare for the competitive examination. He also clarified that they had taken steps as per the direction of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and were expecting approval for KGS Units 5 and 6.
In response to a query, Head of Corporate Communication of NPCIL, Umed Yadav, said that after the commissioning of KGS Units 5 and 6, 50% of the power generated would go to Karnataka.
Senior officials of various KGS units, K. Sriram, Jawahar Singh, S.K. Ojha, Umedkumar Yadav, Suvarna Gaonkar and others were present.
