MP govt plans to set up coal power plants amid stress in sector

MUMBAI: The Madhya Pradesh government is planning to set up 2640MW of greenfield coal-fired power plants, a top government official said.

The state government will invite private power producers to bid for the right to build these assets and the power will be sold exclusively to the state, he said.

The proposal, by the Madhya Pradesh Power Coordination Committee, is awaiting approval from the state cabinet. If this goes through, this will be one of the handful of new fossil fuel-based power plants to come up in the country, at a time when about 50GW of thermal power plants are stranded and non-operational because of a lack of fuel supply or long-term purchase contracts from government.