NLC India, a company under the Ministry of Coal, is planning to invest around Rs 23,800 crore in Tamil Nadu. The proposed investment includes the setting up of mines and power projects.
The investment includes setting up lignite mines with a capacity of 15.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), a 2,640-Mw lignite-based thermal power project, and a 1,000-Mw renewable (solar) project in the state.
The envisaged investment in the projects would approximately generate direct employment for 1,250 persons and indirect employment for 7,500.
The Tamil Nadu government has agreed to provide facilitation and support to NLC India in the form of necessary infrastructural support for setting up these projects.
NLCIL already has a joint venture project — a 1,000-Mw coal-based thermal power station — with TANGEDCO at Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu.
The proposed projects are part of the company’s ‘Vision 2025’ plan to increase its power production to 16,379 Mw, including 3,000 Mw through acquisitions, as against 4,632 Mw at present. Further, its total mining capacity will be increased to 123.15 MTPA, including commercial coal mining of 30 MTPA, from 30.60 MTPA.
A Navratna CPSE of the Government of India, NLCIL already operates four lignite mines, with a total capacity of 30.6 MTPA, in Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan. It also operates five thermal power stations, with a total capacity of 3,140 Mw, in the two states. Of these, Tamil Nadu accounts for 28.6-MTPA lignite mining capacity and 2,890-Mw thermal power generation.
NLCIL also has 492-Mw renewable energy projects in Tamil Nadu, while 909-Mw solar projects are under implementation.
Besides Tamil Nadu, the company is adding mines and power capacity in Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Odisha, and the North Andaman Island, among other places.
Source: Business Standard
