Going by power minister RK Singh’s announcement that India will add another 25-30 giga watt (GW) thermal power on top of 49 GW coal-based units under construction, the country is set to burn 292 million tonne (MT) more coal annually on completion of these projects.
About 3.5-4 MT of coal is used to generate 1,000 mega watt (MW) power at 65%-75% plant load factor (PLF), which is the Indian average. Considering 3.7 MT coal consumption for each GW, the new plan will mean that total coal usage will increase by 38% from current levels.
