Govt plans addl 60GW coal-based capacity

New Delhi: The central government has decided to start work to have up to 60GW of coal-based generation capacity in addition to the 27GW already under construction, amid rising demand for electricity, according Union Power Minister RK Singh.

Singh held an interaction with stakeholders in the power sector here on Tuesday to review the thermal power capacity addition and facilitate the industry to overcome any problems. “We have 27GW under construction, and we had thought that we will add another 25GW. But we have decided that we will start work on at least 55-60GW of thermal capacity. As demand keeps accelerating, we will keep adding this capacity,” Singh said at the meeting.

According to the projections of National Electricity Plan for 2022-32, the required coal- and lignite-based installed capacity will be 283GW by 2031-2032 as against the present installed capacity of 214GW, the Power Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Minister shared the government’s decision to add about 80 GW thermal power capacity by 2031-32 during the meeting. Officers of power ministry, state governments, Central Electricity Authority, NTPC, REC, PFC, BHEL and other public sector enterprises participated in the meeting. Various industry participants, including those from independent power producers and vendors, were also present.