India's coal giants to develop 3GW of solar and 2GW of coal

Coal India and NLC India inked a memorandum of agreement to form a 50-50 joint venture company.

Coal India Limited (CIL) and NLC India Limited (NLCIL) inked a memorandum of agreement (MoU) to form a 50-50 joint venture company that aims for 3GW of solar power generation and 2GW of thermal power generation.

According to an announcement, solar power projects will be set up in the identified barren and reclaimed free land of CIL and also across the country where land is available, requiring around 15,000 acres.

CIL's power generation is expected to cost $138.07m. The joint venture has a timeline of 15 months for completion of solar projects and a 60-month period for thermal power plants.

CIL eyes becoming a net zero energy company, which entails it to generate 3GW of solar power.

"CIL will be riding the core technical expertise of NLCIL in thermal power generation and Solar PV Power,” said a CIL official.