CCEA approves Rs 5,607 crore equity investments by Coal India

Coal India's investments: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has greenlit equity investments totaling Rs 5,607 crore for two thermal power projects with a combined capacity of 2,260 MW.

South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) will establish a 660 MW thermal power plant through a joint venture with MPPGCL, while Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) will set up a 2x800 MW thermal power plant via Mahanadi Basin Power Ltd (MBPL), a subsidiary of MCL.

Supercritical thermal power plant

SECL's project at Amarkantak Thermal Power Station in Madhya Pradesh involves an equity capital of approximately Rs 823 crore with an estimated project capex of Rs 5,600 crore for the 660 MW supercritical thermal power plant.

The CCEA has also given a nod to MCL's investment of Rs 4,784 crore in equity capital for the proposed 2x800 MW supercritical thermal power plant in Sundargarh District, Odisha, through MBPL, with an estimated project capex of Rs 15,947 crore.

Furthermore, the CCEA has approved MBPL, a special-purpose vehicle of MCL, to establish the 2x800 MW Super-Critical Thermal Power Plant. CIL, the world's largest coal mining company, will make equity investments beyond 30 per cent of its net worth in the SECL-MPPGCL joint venture, amounting to Rs 823 crore in the two projects.

These investments aim to facilitate the establishment of pithead thermal power plants by Coal India Ltd subsidiaries, aiming to deliver cost-effective power. The move aligns with the broader goal of enhancing India's power generation capacity.

(with Reuters inputs)