As the South Asian country struggles to satisfy the rising demand for energy, India has requested power providers to acquire equipment worth $33 billion this year in order to expedite capacity increases of coal-fired power in the years ahead, according to two government officials.

The sources stated that the government’s unprecedented action will contribute to the addition of 31 gigawatts (GW) in the next five to six years. This is because it will result in record tendering in a year for the equipment by key power corporations like state-run NTPC and SJVN as well as by private enterprises Adani Power and Essar Power.

Usually, the government lets the businesses decide when to hold tenders.

According to the sources, Power Minister Manohar Lal convened a meeting shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s federal cabinet was formed early last month, during which the topic of expediting equipment orders for new coal-fired plants was addressed.

The objectives are high considering that, with the exception of last year’s purchases for 10 GW, the nation has historically bought equipment with a capacity of around 2-3 GW yearly.

With its current fleet only able to supply the country’s heavy power demand during non-solar hours, India is racing to install more coal-fired reactors.

Following the epidemic, the nation’s electricity consumption broke all previous records due to a rise in heatwave frequency and the quickest pace of economic development among major nations.

When India had its worst power outage in 14 years in June, the country had to scramble to prevent nighttime blackouts by postponing planned plant maintenance and using an emergency provision to force firms to run their facilities using imported coal and electricity.

We will all still be able to enjoy fashion thanks to technological advancements since, at the end of the day, everyone wants to look nice.

According to the sources, state-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL), which won all power equipment contracts in auctions last year, is probably going to get the majority of the contracts for the new equipment.

The only other manufacturer of power equipment in the market, Larsen & Toubro, had not entered into most of the bids from the previous year, they said.

There were no comments on the government direction from the Power Ministry, BHEL, Adani, NTPC, SJVN, and L&T.

“The last large orders for power equipment were placed for about 20 GW around 2009-10 when Chinese companies bagged a major pie,” according to a source.

Thermax-Babcock, BGR-Hitachi, and Doosan, a South Korean company, were among the equipment suppliers forced to close their production facilities in India due to policy reversals and a decline in orders for coal-based plants during the previous several years.

Since 2020, the nation has discouraged transactions with businesses in nations that share a land border, like China, by requiring governmental permissions.

India has accelerated the construction of coal-fired power plants since late last year in order to satisfy its electricity demands, endangering the progress made by the third-largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world in weaning its economy off of carbon.

After a six-year hiatus of substantial corporate activity in the industry, Reuters reported in March that private Indian corporations have indicated interest in developing at least 10 GW of coal-fired power capacity over a ten-year period.

(Adapted from Business-Standard.com)

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