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Raipur, Dec 20 (IANS) In a major blow to controversy-hit, under-construction thermal power plant of Vedanta Resources-controlled Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (BALCO) in Korba, the Chhattisgarh government has suspended the project's factory licence, the state assembly was told Thursday. The issue of power plant and the license awarded to it came up in the assembly Thursday when Premsai Singh of the opposition Congress asked about the units and the status of the project. He also sought information from the state government about the factory licence granted to the plant. In a written reply, Chief Minister Raman Singh said that BALCO had proposed to set up four units of 300 MW each in the power project. he informed the house that the state labour department had granted a factory license for the project Aug 5, 2011. "The licence had been suspended on Dec 7, 2012 following the order of chief factory inspector," Singh stated, adding that the license has been suspended "till further orders". The proposed 1,200 MW power plant located in energy city Korba town, about 250 km from here, had been in the controversy for a long time as the under-construction chimney of the plant collapsed in September 2009, leaving 41 dead and also putting the plant under the scanner of the authorities. The chimney disaster had created massive outrage against the BALCO in the state and the state government had ordered a judicial probe into the tragedy. BALCO officials say that the suspension of factory license would now hugely delay the operation of the power plant as the license is mandatory to begin operations in the plant. The officials further said that BALCO had to start the exercise afresh to get the suspension revoked.
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