The Union government has agreed to allocate 50 per cent of electricity from upcoming 1,320 mw NTPC’s Barh unit in Patna district. It has also agreed to expeditiously take up the fuel linkage issue related to Barauni expansion with the Coal Ministry.
 
 The assurance was given by Union Power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde in a recent letter written to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who had last month led an all-party delegation to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the power situation in the state.
 
 The delegation had sought 50 per cent of power generated at NTPC’s two upcoming plants in the state, including the stage II of Barh unit and Kahalgaon as is being done in the case of 14 NTPC units coming up in different states.
 
 They had also sought coal linkages to expansion plans of 500 mw Barauni thermal power unit in the state. Shinde said that the Ministry of Power agrees to allocate 50 per cent of power from Barh STPS stage-II (1,320 mw) to Bihar.