Four 800 MW units, about ₹35,000 crore and some 4,000 jobs: the proposed plant between NLC India and Odisha.
MUMBAI: NLC India Limited signed a memorandum of understanding with the Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Odisha (IPICOL) on 22 October to develop a 3,200 MW ultra-supercritical coal power station in the state. The proposed outlay is about ₹35,000 crore, and two companion projects are part of the package. Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi was present. Importantly, this is an agreement to plan and facilitate, not a final investment decision, so the site, fuel, water and buyers are still to be settled.
Odisha’s industry needs power that never blinks
The state’s electricity demand comes from continuous-process industry. Aluminium smelters, integrated steel mills, ferro-alloy plants, chlor-alkali units and ports all need steady supply with tight voltage and frequency, and an interruption in a smelter can damage equipment. Odisha’s contracted power mix today is about 53% thermal, 30% large hydro and 17% solar and wind.
Meanwhile, solar output drops to zero in the evening, and batteries and pumped storage cannot yet carry large industrial loads overnight. A pithead thermal plant offers firm, dispatchable power for those hours, and it avoids the cost of hauling coal over long distances.
The package goes beyond one power station
The thermal plant would have four units of 800 MW each. Alongside it, NLC plans a beach sand mineral processing facility with a tentative ₹2,000 crore investment, which brings the combined outlay to ₹37,000 crore. It will also study coal gasification, producing synthesis gas for fertiliser use, though no investment is specified. The company expects about 4,000 direct jobs at the power plant and 500 at the beach sand facility. Notably, the mix fits Odisha’s push to add value to its bauxite, iron ore, chromite and coal.
Efficiency is the headline, scale is the footnote
Ultra-supercritical units run steam above 275 kg/cm² and at 600°C to 620°C. That lifts gross efficiency to 42% to 45%, against 33% to 37% for older subcritical units. Coal use falls to about 0.40 to 0.44 kg per kWh from 0.55 to 0.65 kg, and carbon dioxide intensity drops to 700 to 780 kg per MWh from 900 to 1,000. Water use also falls to 3.0 to 3.5 cubic metres per MWh. The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) expects new thermal capacity to use such high-efficiency designs.
The absolute numbers are large, however. At an 80% load factor, the plant would burn 11.5 to 13.0 million tonnes of coal a year and emit 16 to 18 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. Controls for sulphur and nitrogen oxides and particulates are required on top of the boiler design. Carbon capture is still at pilot stage in India and is not in the plant’s estimates.
A builder that already has roots in Odisha
NLC is a Navratna enterprise under the Coal Ministry, and the government holds 69.47%. It has 6,620 MW of thermal and 1,785 MW of solar and wind capacity, plus 50.10 million tonnes of annual mining capacity. In FY26, it posted revenue of ₹18,466.89 crore, a net worth of ₹21,524.76 crore and capital spending of ₹9,131 crore. Its 2030 targets are 104.35 million tonnes of mining and 10,110 MW of renewables.
In Odisha, it runs the 20-million-tonne Talabira II and III mine. It is building the 2,400 MW Talabira thermal plant, with BHEL as contractor, where 800 MW is contracted to the state utility GRIDCO and the rest to Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry. On 30 September, its board approved a 50:50 venture with NALCO for a 1,080 MW plant at Angul. It also has a renewable venture with the Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency.
Fuel, land and water come next
Four 800 MW units need 11 to 13 million tonnes of coal a year. Most of Talabira’s output is already committed, so NLC will need expansion, a coal linkage under the SHAKTI policy or a new captive block. The main plant needs about 0.52 acres per MW, and with ash ponds, coal yards, rail and greenbelt the total comes to 2,200 to 2,800 acres, to be identified through IPICOL and the state’s industrial infrastructure corporation. Water must come from a major river basin with approval from the state’s Water Resources Department.
Approvals follow a set path. The board must clear the detailed project report, then the environment ministry grants terms of reference, an impact assessment, a public hearing and expert appraisal. Forest clearance applies if forest land is needed, and the state pollution board gives its consent to establish.
Markers that turn paper into steel
Board approval and a final investment decision come first, followed by long-term power purchase agreements with GRIDCO and other buyers before the state and central regulators. A coal allocation, environmental clearance, land and water sanctions, financial closure and the award of construction contracts will also show progress.
The national plan leaves room. The CEA’s National Electricity Plan envisages 80,000 MW to 87,910 MW of additional coal capacity by 2031-32, while India also installed a record 54.6 GW of renewables in FY26. Encouragingly, a Navratna enterprise is putting firm capacity next to its own mines for the state’s heavy industry. Ultimately, the board’s investment decision will show how quickly this MoU becomes a plant.
About the Author
