Kolkata, Apr 20 (Reporter) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, along with JSW Group of Companies C&MD Sajjan Jindal, is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of the 1600 MW thermal power plant (800x2) to be developed by JSW Energy Ltd at Salboni in West Medinipur on Monday. The JSW Energy Ltd has signed a power purchase agreement with the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Co Ltd for a green field 1600 MW, a super ultra supercritical thermal power plant for 25 years. Besides Sajjan Jindal, his brother, son, and brand Ambassador Sourav Ganguly are also expected to attend the foundation stone laying ceremony. Banerjee told reporters that besides laying the foundation stone for the 1600 MW supercritical coal-based thermal power plant, she would also inaugurate a Rs 757 crore 112.5 MW capacity solar power plant at Garbeta in West Midnapore on the following day. Nearly 80 percent of the cost of the project will be borne by a German agency, and the rest will be borne by the state, she added. The foreign agency also has sought permission for the expansion of this unit by another 100 MW, and the state has conceded. She said " It is our commitment towards promoting clean and green energy,” she told reporters at Nabanna recently. “The JSW Group will also come up with some industrial parks. The greenfield thermal power plant will be one of its kind in eastern India. The Chief Minister said that the energy demand was increasing every passing day. with a significant increase in consumer base and industrial units. She said that once the AC and refrigerator were luxuries, now they are essential, and the government has to supply uninterrupted power to meet ever-increasing demand. Banerjee also informed that the supercritical thermal power projects at Durgapur and Bakreshwar in Birbhum, each of 660 MW capacity, are at the bidding stage, while a proposal for a 2x800 MW thermal project at Santaldih is also under consideration. The Chief Minister said once the Deocha Pachami coal project in Birbhum was completed, there would be no power shortage in the state in the next 100 years...////...