Indian Government-owned coal mining company Coal India has entered a non-binding memorandum of understanding with another government entity, Damodar Valley, to establish a 1.6GW coal-fired power plant in Jharkhand, India, through a joint venture (JV) company.
The equity sharing for the new venture will be equally split between the two government-owned entities.
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The power plant will feature two 800MW ultra-supercritical units and is part of the brownfield expansion of the existing 500MW Chandrapura thermal power station in Jharkhand.
The total investment in the project is estimated at Rs165bn.
This collaboration represents the further expansion of Coal India’s foray into thermal power generation, aligning with India’s objectives to bolster its thermal power capacity.
Coal supply for the new power plants will be sourced from nearby coalfields operated by Coal India’s subsidiaries, Bharat Coking Coal and Central Coalfields.
In addition to the power plants, the agreement encompasses the potential development of both thermal and renewable energy projects, with or without storage, to cater to increasing power demand in the Damodar Valley region.
Coal India is also progressing with the construction of two thermal power plants in Madhya Pradesh with 660MW of capacity, and a 1.6GW plant in Odisha, both set to be operational by 2030.
Alongside state-run companies, private sector players such as Tata Power, JSW Energy and Adani Group are also actively pursuing coal power capacity expansions.
In August 2024, India’s Bharat Heavy Electricals was awarded an engineering, procurement and construction contract by Damodar Valley for a 1.6GW supercritical thermal power project in Jharkhand’s Koderma district.
