As India embarks on its ambitious energy transition goals, the government plans to set up six thermal power generation hubs with a cumulative capacity of 30 GW.

Land banks would be created near coal mines and then allocated to power generation companies, said two officials aware of the plans being conceived by the Union coal ministry.

Public sector undertakings such as Coal India Ltd would form joint ventures with power generation companies and invest equity in these power projects, they said.

This renewed push for thermal capacity even as India aims for energy transition with 500 GW of installed non-fossil capacity comes after crisis-like situations in 2021 and 2022 amid low availability of domestic coal and high prices of imported coal.

With a projected cost of over ₹8 crore per megawatt (MW), the estimated capital expenditure for establishing the 30 GW capacity would be around Rs 2.5 trillion. The power ministry had last year projected that the construction of 1 MW capacity would require up to ₹8.39 crore.

"The plan is in line with the development in the Singrauli district (in Madhya Pradesh), around the Singrauli coalfield, wherein few plants have been set up catered with coal from this field transmitting power across the country," said one of the persons mentioned earlier.

“Six such locations have been identified around which such pithead-based power plants would be set up, turning these places into thermal power hubs. The aim is to cut the transportation cost of coal," this official added.