NLC India has signed a pact with the Tamil Nadu government to establish a 2.64GW lignite-based thermal power project in the south Indian state.
Image: Corporate office of NLC India in Neyveli, Tamil Nadu. Photo: courtesy of Subramoniam92/Wikipedia.org.
In addition to the thermal power project, NLC India will also set up Lignite Mines with a capacity of 15.5 million tons per annum (MTPA) and a 1GW solar project in Tamil Nadu state with a total estimated investment of INR238bn ($3.35bn).
The fossil fuel mining and power generation company, which is owned by the Indian government, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard with TANGEDCO, a Tamil Nadu government-owned electric utility.
As per the terms of the MoU, the Tamil Nadu government will offer facilitation and support to the company in the form of required infrastructural support for setting up the mines and power projects.
The projects are expected to create nearly 1,250 jobs and also provide indirect employment opportunities for 7,500 people.
Currently, NLC India operates four lignite mines with a combined production capacity of 30.6 MTPA in Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan. In the power generation business, the company operates five thermal power stations with a combined capacity 3,140MW, which are located in the same two states.
In Tamil Nadu, the Indian government-owned firm operates 28.6 MTPA lignite mines and 2,890MW thermal power stations. The company also has 492MW renewable energy projects in the southern state along with an additional 909MW of solar projects, which are currently under implementation.
NLC India also has a joint venture project with TANGEDCO of 1000MW coal-fired thermal power station in operations at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu. Known as the Tuticorin Thermal Power Station, the power project is made up of two units of 500MW each, which were commissioned in 2015.
The Tuticorin thermal power project, which was built with an investment of INR49bn ($690m), is operated by NLC Tamil Nadu Power (NTPL), the joint venture of the two companies.
In another Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, NLC India through a joint venture with Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam is setting up a 1,980MW power project, which is slated to begin operations by November 2021.