Nashik: As the Eklahare Thermal Power Station faces the end of life for its aging 210 MW capacity sets and the government plans to replace it with a solar power generation plant, a cloud of uncertainty hangs over the future of the thermal power facility. The state government's decision to shift towards solar energy, attributed to technical constraints in establishing a new thermal power plant, has stirred discussions about the fate of the Eklahare Thermal Power Station.
Amid these developments, the Eklahare village Panchayat has issued a property confiscation notice to the thermal power generation center due to unpaid taxes totaling ₹3.79 crore. A similar seizure notice was issued in 2020, reflecting a persistent tax dispute between the Gram Panchayat and the power station. The power center owed a total of ₹6.51 crore since 2019, of which ₹2.87 crore has been paid by the power center until 2023, leaving an outstanding amount of ₹3.79 crore.
This tax dispute has not only cast shadows over the thermal power station's future but has also hampered the development of the village, with no Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives undertaken by the power center, leading to dissatisfaction among the Gram Panchayat and villagers.
Senior officials argue that the aging power generation sets, operational for 40 years, contribute to the increased cost of power generation. Recently, a structural audit of the existing power generation set has further fueled discussions about the potential closure of the facility due to safety concerns.
