The Indian government’s Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved equity investments of Rs56.07bn ($674m) by subsidiaries of Coal India in two coal-fired power plants with a combined generation capacity of 2.26GW, The Hindu reported.

The investment will be made by state-owned South Eastern Coalfields (SECL) and Mahanadi Coalfields (MCL) to establish two thermal power projects.

The decision was made at a meeting of the CCEA convened by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

SECL will establish a 660MW thermal power plant through a joint venture with Madhya Pradesh Power Generating Co Ltd (MPPGCL).

MCL will build a 2x800MW thermal power plant through its subsidiary, Mahanadi Basin Power Ltd (MBPL).

SECL will provide equity capital of Rs8.23bn ($989,699) for the proposed 660MW supercritical thermal power plant at Amarkantak Thermal Power Station in the state of Madhya Pradesh.  

MCL's investment in equity capital for the proposed 2x800MW supercritical thermal power plant in Sundargarh district in the state of Odisa is Rs47.8bn, with an estimated project capital expenditure of Rs159.47bn ($1.9bn) through MBPL.

The CCEA has also approved Coal India Ltd's (CIL) equity involvement in the SECL-MPPGCL joint venture.

Coal India Ltd is the world's largest coal mining business.