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India stands committed to achieving about 50 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030, the government has said. 

At present, India has already achieved 45.5 per cent installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based resources.

In order to reduce the dependency on coal-based thermal power plants, the government has planned to augment non-fossil fuel-based installed electricity generation capacity and the thermal capacity addition is expected to cost Rs 6,67,200 crore by 2031-32.

According to Minister of State for Power, Shripad Naik, the estimated capital cost for setting up of new coal-based thermal capacity as considered in the National Electricity Plan, is Rs 8.34 crore per MW.

“Hence, the thermal capacity addition is expected to entail an expenditure of minimum Rs 6,67,200 crore by 2031-32,” the minister informed the Rajya Sabha.

In order to meet the estimated electricity demand by the year 2031-32, generation planning studies have been carried out by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).

As per the results, the required coal and lignite-based installed capacity would be 283 GW against the present installed capacity of 217.5 GW. The government has proposed to set up an additional minimum 80 GW coal-based capacity by 2031-32.

To achieve this objective, the government has permitted foreign direct investment (FDI) up to 100 per cent under the automatic route along with the waiver of Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) charges for inter-state sale of solar and wind power for projects to be commissioned by June 30, 2025.

The Ministry of Power has also issued a policy on the utilisation of biomass for power generation through co-firing in coal-based power plants. It mandates 5-7 per cent co-firing of Biomass primarily of agro residue with coal, after assessing the technical feasibility.