Adani to Invest $2 Billion in Odisha Power Plant

Gujarati billionaire Gautam Adani has planned to invest $2 billion for a 2,500 megawatt power plant at Angul district in Odisha State to boost power supply.

He who build a power, mining and ports giant with revenue of nearly $9 billion has acquired a power plant from Lanco Infratech last month.

"The Adani Group is the largest private power producer in India, which expects to sign a deal with the government of Odisha in next four months to set up a new plant," Reuters quoted Rajesh Jha who looks after the group's mining business in the state.

The Adani group plans to generate 1,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity within the next three years in Odisha and will source coal from Machhakata and Chhendipada coal block with a total capacity of 70 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).

The Chhendipada block has a mining capacity of 40 million tonne per annum (mtpa), which is allocated to the UCM Coal Company, a joint venture promoted by Maharashtra State Power Generation Corporation (MAHENGENCO), Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Development Corporation (UPRVUNL) and Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation (CMDC).

On the other hand, the Machhakata Coal block is allocated to MahaGuj Collieries Limited (MGCL), a joint venture of Maharashtra State Power Generations Corporation Limited (Mahagenco) and Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Limited (GSECL), that projects an initial mining capacity of 30 mtpa.

"We are looking at couple of sites and the exact location will be finalised within few months. The investment in the project will be close to Rs 12,500 crore," Business Standard quoted Rajesh Jha.

He added that the power plant would require 25 million tonnes of coal per year at full capacity. The land acquisition for the coal blocks by the Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) is in progress and Jha hopes that the blocks will be operational within two years.

The Adani Group, controlled by Adani Enterprises has 9,240 MW of power capacity at its plants in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. It imports about 100 million tonnes of coal every year, mainly from Indonesia to feed the plants.

Currently, Adani Group is implementing coal mining projects with a total annual coal production capacity of around 110 mtpa, that aims to achieve 200 mpta coal mining capacity by 2020.

After the Supreme Court declared on Monday that all coal block allocations and licenses issued to mining companies were unlawful since 1993, the stock prices of most power and coal companies dropped.

The stocks of Adani Enterprises dipped 1.35 percent and ended at ₹497.65 per share.