The first 600MW unit of Sterlite Energy’s 2,400MW power plant with independent power producer (IPP) status in Orissa, India, is expected to go onstream shortly.

This will be the first IPP project to be operational in the state out of 27 proposals, for which MoUs had been signed by the Orissa Government.

Power from the first unit will be supplied to the state, which is currently facing a power shortage due to rising demand and decade-long stagnation in intra-state generation.

After the commissioning of the first unit, the remaining three units will be operational within a year and the 2,400MW power plant will be set up at a cost of INR105bn ($2.2bn).