April 23, 2025 - Coal India (CIL) plans to develop 1.6GW of coal-fired power capacity under a joint venture with state-controlled utility Damodar Valley (DVC) to meet rising demand and expand its non-coal revenue.

India's top coal producer CIL plans to set up two brownfield thermal power units of 800MW each with DVC in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, the company announced on 21 April. The brownfield expansion will be carried out at DVC's 500MW Chandrapura thermal power station.

The 50:50 joint venture plans to invest 165bn rupees ($1.94bn) towards the expansion. The expanded capacity will source coal from the regional mines of CIL's subsidiary companies, Bharat Coking Coal and Central Coalfields. The firms did not disclose the timeline for the completion of this expansion.

CIL has geared up to construct several super-critical or ultra super-critical pit-head thermal power plants to support the nation's requirement for affordable and reliable energy, the company said in its annual report for the fiscal year ended 31 March 2024.

CIL announced plans to set up two brownfield thermal power units of 800MW each with state-owned utility Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam (RRVUNL) at the latter's existing Kalisindh thermal project in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan in September 2024.

India's installed thermal capacity stood at 247GW as of 31 March, with coal accounting for 215GW of this, and the rest being lignite, diesel and natural gas, according to data from the country's Central Electricity Authority (CEA). The country's total power capacity stood at 475GW as of 31 March.

India plans to raise its electricity generation capacity by more than fourfold over the next two decades to cater to rising domestic demand, although the focus would be on boosting power production from cleaner sources of energy as the country takes steps to cut emissions.

New Delhi is aiming to achieve a generation capacity of 2,100GW by 2047, power minister Manohar Lal Khattar said at the launch of National Electricity Plan for power transmission in October 2024.