Coal India signs MoU with DVC to set up brownfield power project in Jharkhand, with investment of ₹16,500 crore

Coal for the proposed power plants would be sourced from coalfields in the proximity from Coal India’s subsidiary companies– Bharat Coking Coal and Central Coalfields.
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ADREES LATIF

Coal behemoth Coal India on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with State-run power utility Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) to set up a coal-fired 1,600 MW ultra-supercritical power project in Jharkhand, with a total investment of around ₹16,500 crore.

This brownfield project of 2 X 800 MW power plants — an expansion of existing Chandrapura Thermal Power Station of 2 X 250 MW capacity — is Coal India’s move to further widen its business diversification portfolio into thermal power generation.

For the 1,600 MW power project, a joint-venture company would be set up on a 50 per cent equity sharing basis, Coal India said in a stock exchange filing.

“A non-binding memorandum of understanding was signed between the two government-owned energy entities on April 21 in Kolkata,” it said.

The command area of the Kolkata-headquartered Damodar Valley Corporation , jointly owned by West Bengal, Jharkhand and the Centre, is spread over the two States.

In the presence of P M Prasad, Chairman, CIL and S Suresh Kumar, Chairman, DVC, the pact was inked by Debasish Nanda, Director (Business Development) CIL and Swapnendu Kumar Panda, Member (Technical) DVC on behalf of the respective state-run companies.

Coal for the proposed power plants would be sourced from coalfields in the proximity from Coal India’s subsidiary companies– Bharat Coking Coal and Central Coalfields.

Notably, for Coal India’s thermal power generation diversification goal, Mahanadi Basin Power (MBPL) is planning to implement a proposed 2 X 800 MW (Phase-I) thermal power station, a greenfield project, in Odisha. MBPL, an SPV, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mahanadi Coalfields (MCL). MCL is also a subsidiary of Coal India, which is the world’s largest coal miner.

Moreover, Coal India had signed a MoU with Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam (RRVUNL) last for exploration and execution of power projects. The proposed electricity generation would be through a mix of coal-fired thermal power plant, solar projects, pump storage plant and wind projects.

Published on April 21, 2025