Coal India Sets 20 GW Solar Power Generation Target In Next 10 Years

According to industry estimates, a sum of around Rs 5 crore is required to install a 1 MW solar project.

PTI @PTI_News

01 Apr 2018, 06:39 PM IST

Solar panels sit in an array at the 2.3-megawatt floating solar power station operated by Kyocera TCL Solar LLC, a joint venture between Kyocera Corp. and Century Tokyo Leasing Corp., on Sakasamaike Pond in Kasai, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. (Photographer: Buddhika Weerasinghe/Bloomberg)

Government-owned miner Coal India Ltd. is planning to generate about 20,000 megawatts in the next 10 years as part of its diversification plan, a senior company official has said.

India has set a target to generate 100 GW of solar power by 2022.

“For Coal India to be sustainable we must diversify. We have already defined our roadmap. We are going in a big way for solar and have set a target of generating 20,000 MW or 20 gigawatt in next 10 years," Coal India Chairman and Managing Director Gopal Singh said.

Today coal-based power is the cheapest. Renewable naturally will be costly. But the way work is being done in renewables, the day is bound to come when it will be affordable may be after two or three decades.

Gopal Singh, Chairman, Coal India

However, he did not elaborate on investment plans of the company. According to industry estimates, a sum of around Rs 5 crore is required to install a 1 MW solar project.

Also Read: Coal India Plans Rs 12,500 Crore Capex In FY19 To Increase Production

The chairman also said that the plan will require 40,000 hectares of land and which is already available with the company. “We don’t have the land in single size, it is of our various subsidiaries which we will use,” he added.

Coal India, a maharatna, under the Ministry of Coal is the single largest coal producer in the world.