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Rising Global Coal Prices No Worry For India, Says JSW Energy’s Prashant Jain

Power prices will remain on an uptrend due to a shortage of coal and as demand outpaces supply, JSW Energy says.

Unidentified emissions from a coal-fired power plant escape into the air. (Photographer: Natalie Behring/Bloomberg News)
Unidentified emissions from a coal-fired power plant escape into the air. (Photographer: Natalie Behring/Bloomberg News)

Rising prices of thermal coal, which is burnt to generate electricity, will not significantly impact power prices in India at a time when the market is hit by a shortage of coal.

That’s according to Prashant Jain, managing director and chief at JSW Energy Ltd. “Power prices in India are not determined by imported coal,” Jain told BloombergQuint in an interaction. He explained that for India’s largest thermal power generator NTPC Ltd., out of 190 gigawatt of its coal-based power capacity, only 20 GW is generated from imported coal. The rest is met by domestic coal.

Power prices in India will remain on an uptrend due to a shortage of coal and as demand outpaces supply, Jain said. Besides, the existing overcapacity means that there is no additional capacity coming up in the near term which will lead to hardening of prices, he added.

We are in a same scenario where we were between 2004-2008.
Prashant Jain, MD and CEO, JSW Energy

Watch the full interaction here: