MCL to invest 10,000 Cr for 1600 MW power plant in Odisha

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Nov 15:

Odisha headquartered Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) plans to set up a 1,600 MW super critical thermal power plant in Sundargarh district of the state at Rs 10,000 crore.

MCL, a subsidiary of Coal India and a Government of India Enterprise, intends to appoint a consultant in current fiscal to help set up the project. A special purpose vehicle (SPV), namely, Mahanadi Basin Power Ltd (MBPL) has already been incorporated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of MCL for setting up the project.

The 2×800 megawatt (MW) plant at the mouth of a coal field in the Mahanadi basin will mark MCL’s foray into the power sector.

The company had earlier indicated that it planned to set up a 2×800 MW pit-head super critical thermal power plant around Basundhara-Garjanbahal coal mines with any joint venture partner. Besides, it had been planning to set up power plants at mines where evacuation of coal is difficult because of absence of road and rail transport facilities.

“We would appoint a consultant in the current fiscal which would help us in providing modalities for setting up of Rs 10,000 crore power plant. The preliminary work for the proposed power project has already begun. The land for the plant has been identified and the process for obtaining coal linkages is underway,” MCL Chairman-cum-Managing Director AK Jha was quoted saying in various news reports today.

Coal India this year has set itself a production target of 550 million tonnes and MCL’s share is intended to be 150 MT.

It may be noted that, MCL is one of the major coal producing companies of India and contributes up to 25 percent of Coal India’s total output. It is one of the eight subsidiaries of Coal India Limited which was carved out of South Eastern Coalfields Limited in 1992 with its headquarters at Sambalpur.

The company has seven open cast mines and three underground coal mines spread across Odisha. It also has two subsidiaries with private companies as a joint venture namely MJSJ Coal Limited and MNH Shakti Ltd. The company is likely to get a shot in its arm after its key railway line between Barpali and Jharsuguda becomes functional in June 2016.