The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) on Wednesday said it will resume construction of its upcoming 4,000-MW thermal power plant in Patratu from Thursday.

The construction of the plant, which is being built by NTPC and the Jharkhand government under the name Patratu Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (PVUNL), was stalled since March 22 to prevent the spread of Covid-19 among the construction staff.

Y Devashish, PVUNL’s HR manager, said, “The construction of phase-1 of the 4,000-MW plant will resume from Thursday. All guidelines laid down by the Union government will be strictly followed.”

He added, “We have started mobilization of local workers residing in permitted distances and issuing gate passes to them.” Around 80 per cent of PVUNL’s current construction workforce hail from hamlets within 2km radius of the plant site.

The first phase, which will have three units of 800 MW each, is to be commissioned within two years. On Monday, Ramgarh deputy commissioner Sandeep Singh said PVUNL could start its construction work with adherence to sanitation protocols and social distancing norms.