Coal India receives letter of award for ₹2, 831-crore solar plant in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow (Raghwendra Pratap Singh) : Coal behemoth Coal India has received a Letter of Award for setting up of a 600-MW solar plant, with an estimated project cost of ₹2,831 crore, in Uttar Pradesh.

In a stock exchange filing, CIL said it has received the contract from Bundelkhand Saur Urja Ltd — a joint venture of NHPC Ltd and Uttar Pradesh New & Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA) — to set up the plant (300 MW X 2) at the Jalaun Solar Park. The project will have to be executed within 18 months from signing of the power purchase agreement (PPA).

We have emerged as the successful bidder for a 600 MW solar project in UP’s Jalaun,” Coal India Chairman and Managing Director B Sairam told businessline in an interview in May this year. Sairam added that CIL had around 524 MW of solar projects under execution as part of its diversification drive.

Coal India’s coal production fell 7.5 per cent year-on-year to 169.6 million tonnes in the first quarter this fiscal from 183.3 mt for the same period last fiscal. Among its seven coal producing subsidiaries, only Central Coalfields (CCL) and South Eastern Coalfields (SCCL) witnessed y-o-y increase in production during Q1FY27.

Notably, the company’s emphasis is now on more efficient synchronisation between production and evacuation. “We are consciously making efforts to place fresher coal into the market and move towards a more demand-aligned produce-and-sell approach, rather than prolonged stocking before sale,” Sairam had pointed out in the interview.