As many as 29 power plants in the country with a combined capacity of about 12,000 mega watt (MW) will require to be shut down by early 2022 in order to ensure that New Delhi meets its international environmental commitments. A bulk of these power plants of close to 25 years of age are run by state governments, while a few are operated by Central government-owned Damodar Valley Corporation and private companies namely CESC, Torrent Power, Ind Barath and Gupta Energy.
In her Budget speech on Saturday, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that since there are old thermal power plants with high carbon emission levels, “utilities running them would be advised to close them, if their emission is above the pre-set norms”.
