How much does India need to increase thermal capacity, meet 2032 demand?

It eyes an additional 80 GW coal-based capacity by 2031-2032.

India’s Ministry of Power said it needs a minimum of $80.04b (INR6.67 lakh crore) to set up new coal-based thermal power plants and meet the country’s electricity demand by the year 2031-2032. 

The ministry said in a statement that the estimated cost of building new coal-based thermal plants as considered in the National Electricity Plan is around $1m/megawatt (MW) (INR 8.34 crore/MW).

Based on the study by the Central Electricity Authority, India’s required coal and lignite based installed capacity would be 283 gigawatts (GW) against the present installed capacity of 217.5 GW. Considering this, the government has proposed setting up an additional minimum 80 GW coal-based capacity by 2031-2032.
 
Meanwhile, the Indian government is also working on reducing dependence on coal-based thermal power plants. To achieve this, the country will augment non-fossil fuel based installed electricity generation capacity.

“India in its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) stands committed to achieve about 50% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030. At present India has already achieved 45.5% installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based resources,” the ministry said.

$1 = INR83.73