It was originally conceived to provide power to neighbouring states of Haryana, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, U.P., Rajasthan, and Delhi.

Its performance was deteriorating due to various reasons, like ageing, poor quantity and quality of cooling water etc.

This dirty water from tube leakages gets mixed into the feedwater cycle causes numerous problems, like frequent boiler tube leakages, and silica deposition on turbine blades.

Apart from poor quality, the quantity of water supply was also erratic due to lack of co-ordination between NTPC and UP irrigation which manages the Agra Canal.

The poor coal quality also put burdens on equipment, like mills and their performance also goes down.

This factor, coupled with low efficiency due to ageing and old design makes electricity of the plant costlier.

The plant contributed only 8% of the Delhi's electric power but produced 30%-40% of the city's particulate matter pollution from the energy sector.

[7] During the Great smog of Delhi, the power plant was shut down to alleviate the acute air pollution suffered by residents of the city.

Environment Pollution Prevention and Control Authority (EPCA) has proposed to close down the plant by July 2018.