The Union Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) has authorized Coal India Ltd’s (CIL) two first thermal power production facilities, worth Rs 22,000 crore, in partnership with its subsidiaries. These units, set to arrive at the pithead (in the coal mines area), are part of the Centre’s intensified efforts to have additional pithead units.
The Cabinet also approved a 1,600 Mw supercritical thermal power plant in Sundargarh district via Mahanadi Basin Power Ltd (MBPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), another branch of Coal India.
CIL, the world’s largest coal mining firm, will establish two pithead thermal power plants through its subsidiaries to deliver cheaper power to the country. To ensure adequate electricity availability, the Centre has pushed state-owned firms to invest in power generation, including coal and renewable energy.
There are now 25 GW of thermal power capacity in various phases of development. NTPC, the state-owned power-producing powerhouse, is building about 15 GW of this capacity. The Centre also intends to generate 500 GW of renewable energy by the end of this decade.
This year’s peak capacity was 240 Gw, and if demand grows by 7-7.5 percent, extra thermal capacity by the end of the decade is expected to be 60-70 Gw. While renewable capacity would continue to develop at its current rate, an additional 30-35 GW of thermal capacity beyond what is presently under construction is necessary to meet rising demand.