India plans to award thermal power projects totaling 19.56 GW in FY 2024-25, newly-appointed Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced after a review meeting on Thursday. He also noted that coal-based power projects with a capacity of 28.4 GW are currently under construction. “Chaired a meeting at Shram Shakti Bhawan today alongside MoS Shri @shripadynaik to review the progress of Thermal Capacity Addition in the country,” Khattar shared in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday. “We also reviewed various under-construction thermal capacity projects and awarding projects in FY 2024-25, amounting to 28,400 MW and 19,560 MW respectively,” he added.
India’s power demand is rapidly increasing, with power generation rising by 11.3 percent in 2023, the largest increase in at least five years. To ensure energy security and meet this growing demand, the Narendra Modi government has announced plans to add 80 GW of coal-fired capacity by 2032. In 2024, India aims to start operating a combined coal-based power capacity of 13.9 GW, which surpasses the total Renewable Energy (RE) capacity added in 2023, which was 13.5 GW.