India's coal rush - December 2012 update

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2007-2011: India's coal rush gains speed

As shown in Table 1 below, India's coal plant capacity was relatively stagnant through the end of the 10th Plan on March 31, 2007. Since then, growth has been rapid, including a 79% increase in capacity from March 31, 2007 through May 31, 2012 (mostly since the beginning of 2010) and an additional 76% increase represented by projects currently under construction.

Table 1: Coal plant capacity additions since 1985, and current capacity under construction

Date	Capacity (MW)	Growth (MW)	Growth rate	Period
31-Mar-85	26,311
31-Mar-92	44,791	18,480	70%	(7 years)
31-Mar-97	54,154	9,363	21%	(5 years)
31-Mar-02	62,131	7,977	15%	(5 years)
31-Mar-07	63,951	1,820	3%	(5 years)
31-May-12	114,782	50,831	79%	(5 years, 2 months)
Under construction 5/31/12		87,122	76%

2012: The boom has slowed, but plenty of projects remain in the pipeline

In August 2011, a study by Prayas Energy Group found approximately 590,000 megawatts (MW) of coal projects in the pipeline, having received or expecting imminent environmental approval. However, since the release of the Prayas study there has been a major slowdown among planners of new coal capacity. As shown in Table 2, 45,230 MW of projects were deferred (i.e. progress was on hold) as of December 31, 2012, and an additional 26,420 MW of projects had been cancelled. The reasons for the slowdown were multiple: (1) Dramatic rises in the cost of imported coal; (2) Insufficiency in domestic coal output; (3) An unfolding domestic crisis over the integrity of the coal allocation process, known as "Coalgate," (4) Difficulties obtaining financing. Nevertheless, 103,292 MW or projects were under construction as of December 31, 2012 and an additional 51,520 MW of projects were in advanced development, having achieved most milestones (permits, water, land, coal, and financing).

Table 2: Summary statistics for proposed coal plants in India

Status	#of Plants	Capacity (MW)	Annual tons of CO2
Planning	132	157,182	929,524,362
Early development	111	152,652	902,738,255
Advanced development	46	51,520	304,673,865
Construction	126	103,292	610,837,983
Newly commissioned (since 1/1/2010)	65	41,758	246,944,318
Deferred	28	45,230	267,476,687
Cancelled	20	26,420	156,239,975
Unconfirmed	20	24,685	145,979,704
Uncertain	6	14,660	86,694,854
Total	554	617,399	3,651,110,003

Within India, grassroots opposition to coal continues to be intense -- and the opposition is showing success

Table 5 shows the locations of 39 plants that have been the subject of opposition. More details may be found at Opposition to coal in India. To date, clashes over coal mines, plants, and rail lines have been less intense in 2012 than in 2011. That year saw large scale-scale protests in numerous locations, including multiple cases of violent police action against rural protesters. Among such incidents were the following:

• In January 2011 in Bihar, a farmer was killed during protests against the Nabinagar Super Thermal Power Project.
• In January 2011 in Chhattisgarh, 25 people were injured and over 100 imprisoned during protests against the KSK Mahanadi Power Project.
• In February 2011 in Andhra Pradesh, two people were killed and 25 injured during protests in Srikakulam against a plant proposed by East Coast Energy.
• In April 2011 in Jharkand, four people were killed and 21 injured during protests against over the clearing of land owned by Bharat Coking Coal Limited.
• In August 2011 in Punjab, a farmer was killed and others injured during protests against the Gobindpura power station.
• In October 2011 in Andhra Pradesh, villagers were attacked by police and a doctor leading the protests beaten during hearings on a coal plant in Ankulapaturu village.
• In November 2011 in Jharkhand, anti-coal organizer Sister Valsa John was hacked to death, allegedly by agents of local mining companies.

Opponents have halted 44% of proposed plants -- that's 5 times the expected attrition rate

In cases where opposition to coal plants has been reported, it appears that the opposition has had a high rate of success. As shown in Table 3 below, the results are as follows:

• Plants deferred - 11
• Plants cancelled - 6
• Total number deferred or cancelled - 17
• Total number of plants with reported opposition - 39
• Success rate for opponents - 44%

The success rate of 44% compares to approximately 9% of coal projects deferred or cancelled overall in India (48 out of 549 projects, as shown in Table 4 above). The result shows that when communities use employ grassroots tactics to oppose coal plant proposals that threaten to encroach on their land, water, crops, or fisheries, their chances of seeing a coal plant deferred or cancelled increase fivefold over the average rate for the country as a whole.

Opponents have been particularly successful in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra

As shown in Table 4, two states, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, account for 29,600 MW of cancelled or deferred projects, nearly half of the 64,070 MW of cancelled or deferred projects for the nation as a whole.

Table 3: Plants that have been the object of community opposition (sortable table)

State	Plant	Reason for Opposition	Opposition Groups	Status
Andhra Pradesh	Ankulapatur power station phase 1	pollution concerns	Jana Vignana Vedika	Construction
Chhattisgarh	Athena Chhattisgarh power station	multiple	LIFE, Jan Chetana	Advanced development
Orissa	Babandh power station	land, displacement		Construction
Orissa	Balangir power station	land acquisition		Early development
Chhattisgarh	Baradarha power station	displacement, forests	Centre for Science and Environment	Advanced development
Uttar Pradesh	Bara Thermal Power Project	land		Construction
Gujarat	Bhadreshwar power station (OPG)	fisheries, impacts of multiple plants	MASS	Deferred
Gujarat	Bhadreshwar Thermal Power Project (Adani)	fisheries, impacts of multiple plants	MASS	Deferred
Andhra Pradesh	Bhavanapadu Thermal Power Project	multiple		Deferred
Chhattisgarh	Birra Thermal Power Project	displacement, impacts of multiple plants		Early development
Karnataka	Chamalapura power station	displacement	Chamalapura Ushnavidyut Sthavara Virodhi Horata Samithi	Cancelled
Maharashtra	Dahanu Power Station	agriculture, fisheries	DPBS, INTACH, KVIC, DTEPA, DTEWA, Tamarind Tree	Cancelled
Andhra Pradesh	Damodaram Sanjeevaiah Thermal Power Station	wildlife		Cancelled
Maharashtra	Dhopave Thermal Power Station (Mahagenco)	land acquisition		Deferred
Punjab	Gidderbaha power station	land acquisition		Deferred
Maharashtra	Girye Ultra Mega Power Project	land acquisition and displacement		Deferred
Punjab	GNDTP Bathinda power station	air pollution and coal ash	Joint Action Committee	Cancelled
Punjab	Gobindpura power station	land acquisition		Construction
Karnataka	Gulbarga power station	land acquisition		Advanced development
Andhra Pradesh	Gunipudi power station (NBPL proposal)			Deferred
Tamil Nadu	Hanakon Thermal Power Project			Cancelled
Orissa	JR Power Project	pollution of farmland, water competition		Early development
West Bengal	Katwa Super Thermal Power Project (NTPC)	land acquisition		Deferred
Chhattisgarh	KSK Mahanadi Power Project	land acquisition, displacement		Construction
Bihar	Nabinagar Super Thermal Power Project	land acquisition		Advanced development
Andhra Pradesh	Nagarjuna Construction Company Sompeta Thermal Plant	agriculture, fisheries, wildlife		Deferred
Punjab	Rajpura_Thermal_Power_Project	lack of local hiring for construction		Construction
Maharashtra	Ratnagiri Power Plant expansion	agriculture, impacts of multiple plants	Ratnagiri Zilla Jagruk Manch	Deferred
Punjab	Ropar thermal plant	air pollution, fly ash, agriculture		Proposed
Madhya Pradesh	Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project	Ex-Im Bank policy, CDM issues	Friends of the Earth	Construction
Andhra Pradesh	Simhadri Power Station	Fly ash, fisheries		Operating
Andhra Pradesh	Sree Siva Satyadeva Power Plant	coastal impacts		Cancelled
Gujarat	Tata Mundra Ultra Mega Power Project	fisheries, agriculture, CDM	MASS, etc.	Construction
Chhattisgarh	Tamnar II Project	pollution, displacement	Jan Chetna	Advanced development
Karnataka	Udupi power station	Fly ash		Early development
Maharashtra	Veshvi power station	agriculture, fisheries		Proposed
Andhra Pradesh	Vizag Thermal Power Plant	land acquisition, coastal impacts		Deferred
Karnataka	Yeramarus thermal station	fly ash, impacts of multiple plants		Construction

Regional analysis

As shown in the Google map here, proposed coal projects are located in nearly all parts of India. However, as shown by the table below, some states have a greater amount of proposed capacity additions than others, with Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra accounting for 36% of all capacity under development, and 94% of all development taking place in 12 of India's 28 states.

Table 4: Projects by state

State	#of Proposed Plants	Capacity (MW)
Andhra Pradesh	71	79,600
Assam	5	3,050
Bihar	26	37,030
Chhattisgarh	66	70,498
Gujarat	28	36,998
Haryana	7	6,000
Jharkhand	38	43,680
Karnataka	25	28,290
Kerala	1	2,520
Madhya Pradesh	47	57,979
Maharashtra	67	69,625
Meghalaya	2	740
Orissa	50	62,645
Punjab	12	14,120
Rajasthan	19	11,810
Tamil Nadu	32	32,693
Uttar Pradesh	38	39,540
West Bengal	20	20,581
Total	554	617,399

Table 5: Status breakdown by state (Megawatts)

State	Planning	Early development	Advanced development	Construction	Newly commissioned	Deferred	Cancelled	Uncertain	Unconfirmed	Total (MW)
Andhra Pradesh	19,885	9,022	10,310	7,933	2,900	11,330	5,720	300	13,160	80,560
Assam	2,300	0	0	750	0	0	0	0	0	3,050
Bihar	5,660	14,380	3,300	4,690	0	1,800	2,040	5,160	0	37,030
Chhattisgarh	13,910	18,125	13,830	11,858	1,595	4,000	540	4,000	1,200	69,058
Gujarat	11,488	6,960	1,975	5,990	5,670	2,940	1,600	0	250	36,873
Haryana	660	0	0	500	4,840	0	0	0	0	6,000
Jharkhand	6,260	22,875	660	5,455	2,170	0	2,000	0	4,960	44,380
Karnataka	2,820	11,570	5,180	0	1,950	4,000	1,450	0	1,320	28,290
Kerala	0	2,400	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2,400
Madhya Pradesh	3,740	26,530	9,200	11,909	0	5,280	1,320	0	0	57,979
Maharashtra	13,340	10,350	7,440	9,350	4,240	12,080	2,450	5,200	3,795	68,245
Meghalaya	240	500	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	740
Orissa	30,285	11,860	6,695	8,820	2,940	0	2,000	0	0	62,600
Punjab	5,660	1,320	0	3,900	0	2,640	660	0	0	14,180
Rajasthan	1,340	5,350	2,890	2,010	1,040	0	0	0	0	12,630
Tamil Nadu	18,133	4,540	2,420	5,327	953	1,320	0	0	0	32,693
Uttar Pradesh	13,180	11,220	0	6,530	6,330	2,280	0	0	0	39,540
West Bengal	8,221	0	2,320	2,100	2,750	2,600	2,640	0	0	20,631
Total	157,122	157,002	66,220	87,122	37,378	50,270	22,420	14,660	24,685	616,879

Region-by-region discussion

While coal plants are being built and planned in all parts of India, the following are areas of particular concentration:

• Western Maharashtra: Along the Konkan Coast, mostly to the south of Mumbai southward along the coast, at least a dozen projects totaling 25,785 MW have been proposed. However, none of these projects is in the Construction or Advanced Development category, and only one project, the Kinebodi power station, is in the Early Development stage. Other projects are considered Proposed, (i.e. no significant progress toward permits, land, etc.), Uncertain, Deferred, or Cancelled. A significant victory recently was the decision by Tata Power to place the Coastal Maharashtra Project on hold.

• Eastern Maharashtra: There are two concentrations, one around Nagpur and the other around Chandrapur. Around Napur, there are nine projects totaling 6870 MW. Of these, five projects are already in Construction or Operating. The remaining 4 projects are in Early Development or Unconfirmed. Around Chandrapur, there are 14 projects totaling 8,930 MW. Six of these projects are in Construction or Operating. Two are in Advanced Development.

• Orissa: Proposed coal plants in Orissa are concentrated in three areas: (1) the Jharsuguda District, a mining area in northwest Orissa, (2) the Angul District, a mining area in central Orissa, and (3) the Cuttack/Bhubaneshwar area in eastern Orissa. Several other proposed projects are distributed across the state; three are located on or close to the coast, in Ganjam, Paradip, and Sakhigopal.

• Chhattisgarh: Proposed coal plants are concentrated around Korba, around Raigarh, and around Champa and Janjgir.

• Madhya Pradesh: One concentration of proposed coal plants is in the Singrauli district, which is already among the most intensely mined and polluted locations in India. Another concentration is farther to the southwest along Highway 78 near Anuppur and Shahdol.

• Andhra Pradesh: The bulk of proposed coal plants stretch along the coast with one cluster south of Nellor and another south of Visakhapatnam. There aer also a number of projects proposed for the interior, both north and south of Hyderabad.

• Jharkhand: Proposals are distributed around the state, with no single major concentration.

• Tamil Nadu: There are three areas of concentration: around Chennai on the north coast, around Neyveli on the central coast, and around Thoothukudi on the south coast.

• Uttar Pradesh: Plants are distributed across the state, with a particular concentration in the Singrauli district.

• Bihar: Most projects remain in an early stage of development. There are three small clusters, one around Aurangabad, one arond Lahisarai, and one around Banka.

• Gujarat: Proposed plants are concentrated around the Gulf of Kutch and around the Gulf of Khambhat.

• Karnataka: Most proposed projects are in the interior, some south of Bijapur, some south of Gulbarga, some around Devarsugur, and some west of Bellary.

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