Bihar to Build India’s First Power Museum in Patna

Bihar is fully prepared to build the country’s first Power Museum on the 3-acre campus of the defunct Karbigahia Thermal Power Station in Patna, Bihar. This is going to be India’s first and the world’s fourth such museum and it will be built at a cost of approximately ₹200 crore.

• In a historic decision, Bihar is fully prepared to build the country’s first Power Museum, which will be developed on the 3-acre campus of the defunct Karbigahia Thermal Power Station in Patna.
• The spokesperson of the state’s Energy Department said that the proposed energy museum – which is going to be India’s first and the world’s fourth such museum – will be built at a cost of approximately ₹200 crore.

Global Power Museums

• Some museums focusing on energy history include the Powerhouse Museum (Sydney, Australia), and the Deutsches Museum (Munich, Germany), while the Science Museum (London, England), the Smithsonian Institution (Washington DC, USA), and the National Museum of Nature and Science (Tokyo, Japan) have significant electricity-related collections.
• The Chief Minister’s advisor and Director General of Bihar Museum, Anjani Kumar Singh, reviewed the entire project plan in a high-level meeting held at the Bihar Museum in Patna.
• The meeting was attended by the Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited (BSPHCL) Manoj Kumar Singh and the MD of North Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited (NBPDCL) Rahul Kumar.

Karbigahia Power Plant

• It was built by the British in 1930 to supply electricity to Patna. It was the main source of energy for the Governor House, Patna High Court, Legislature, Secretariat, hospitals, VIP residences, and other parts of the city.
• The Karbigahia Power Plant was coal-based. It generated electricity with the help of five turbines. A 126-feet-high chimney or cooling tower expelled the smoke released as a by-product of electricity generation. It was shut down in 1984.