Adani Group’s power unit and Torrent Power Ltd. have secured separate contracts totaling 325 billion rupees ($3.7 billion) from the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh to build coal-fired power plants, highlighting India’s continued reliance on fossil fuels despite its renewable energy ambitions, Bloomberg reports.
MP Power Management Company Ltd. awarded Torrent Power a 220 billion-rupee contract for a 1,600-megawatt ultra-supercritical plant, according to a stock exchange filing on Saturday. Adani Power Ltd. won a 105 billion-rupee contract to construct an 800MW coal-based facility in the state.
Both companies will supply power from the plants to Madhya Pradesh’s distribution company at tariffs slightly above 5.8 rupees per kilowatt-hour. Torrent Power described the project as its largest investment in the sector to date, with expected annual revenue of 65 billion rupees.
The contracts underscore India’s growing dependence on coal, the world’s dirtiest fossil fuel, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to promote investments in clean energy. The country aims to install 500 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030, supported by major corporate commitments.
At the same time, India is moving ahead with plans to expand coal-based power. The government’s roadmap, released in late 2023, calls for the addition of nearly 88GW of new coal capacity by early 2032 — a 63% increase from an earlier proposal the same year.
The deals come amid soaring power demand in India, driven by extreme heat and a growing economy, with the latest fiscal year already showing record electricity consumption, according to Grid Controller of India Ltd. and the Central Electricity Authority.
