Barh Super Thermal Power Station

Barh Super Thermal Power Station or NTPC Barh is located in Barh in the Indian state of Bihar.^[1][2][3] NTPC Barh is located barely four kilometres (2.5 mi) east of the Barh sub-division on National Highway-31 in Patna district. The project has been named a mega power project, and is owned by Indian energy company National Thermal Power Corporation.

Barh Super Thermal Power Station
As seen from NH 30
Location of the Barh Super Thermal Power Station
Country	India
Location	Barh, Bihar
Coordinates	25°29′11.4″N 85°44′42.6″E
Status	Operational
Construction began	1999
Commission date	October 2013
Owner	NTPC
Thermal power station
Primary fuel	Coal
Power generation
Units operational	2 X 660 MW(Stage 2) operational 3 X 660 MW(Stage 1) operational
Make and model	Doosan Heavy Industries BHEL
Nameplate capacity	3300 MW
External links
Website	www.ntpc.co.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=27%3Afuture-plans&catid=30%3Athe-community&Itemid=76&lang=en

As of July 2025, both the 1,320 MW (2 x 660 MW) Stage-2 built by BHEL and the 1,980 MW (3 x 660 MW) Barh Stage-1 have started full commercial operations.^[4]

Russian firm Technopromexport (TPE) was awarded a contract to provide engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services for stage one development in May 2005. However, the contract was terminated in 2014 due to contractual disputes. NTPC awarded a £205m ($294m) contract to Korean firm Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction to design, produce and install three 660MW boilers for stage one in January 2016.^[5]

Bihar's share is 1183 MW from NTPC Barh (26% from stage 1 and 50% from stage 2).^[6][7][8] The project has been contested as it is nearby Himalayan Range and needs stricter anti-pollution controls.

The main power plant and the township is spread over an area of 1,186 acres (480 ha) of land, which includes 12 villages.

The then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had laid the foundation stone of the main plant of stage-1 of NTPC Barh on March 6, 1999. The formal inauguration of its site office and laying of the foundation stone of the training centre at the plant site was done in September 2003.^[9]

Project cost

The plant is to produce 3,300 MW of power at a cost of over ₹26,000 crore.^[6][10] The total approved cost of stage-1 (660 MW x 3) has ₹8,692.97 crore. The total approved cost of stage-2 (unit 1) plant is ₹7,688.12 crore.

Capacity

Unit-1 of stage-2 commissioned in November 2013.^[11] Unit-2 of stage-2 commissioned in March 2015. The first unit (of stage-I) of NTPC Barh is expected to start generation from December 2019 instead of the scheduled August 2020,^[12] while the second and third units of stage-I will be made operational in December 2020 and August 2021, respectively.

Inland Waterways Authority of India received bids in 2013 September for coal movement on 1620 km National Waterway 1 (India) from Haldia to NTPC's Barh which is about 1,000 km (620 mi) away.^[13] Currently, coal for the power plant is transported from Jharkhand via rail.^[14]

Stage	Unit number	Capacity (MW)	EPC contractor	Date of commissioning	Status
1st	1	660	Doosan Power Systems[15]	November 2021	Running[16][4]
	2	660		July 2023	Running[4]
	3	660		July 2025	Running[4]
2nd	4	660	Bharat Heavy Electricals	November 2013	Running
	5	660		March 2015	Running[17]
Total	Five	3300

Boiler balance work of Stage-I

The boiler balance work of Stage-I (3 x 660 MW)(BSTPP) was allotted to Doosan Power Systems India Ltd, (Korea) Company in January 2016.^[18] The work is under contract with Power Mech Projects Ltd.^[19]

Flue gas desulphurisation addition

As per MOEF guidelines of Dec-2015 NTPC decided to add FGD units to all units to limit SOX emissions. BHEL was awarded the contract to supply FGD units.^[20]