Govt to ask 79 coal-based power plants to set up anti-emission gear

The centre has asked 79 coal-based power plants totalling 20,500-MW near million-plus cities in 10 states comprising Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and UP to set up equipment to restrict the emission of poisonous sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide gases, by end of December, while 517 others have been given timeline relaxations. As per the updated categorisation of thermal power plants by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), these 79 coal-fired power plants are near populated and already polluted cities. Chennai, Delhi, Greater Mumbai, Kota, Nagpur, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada have been marked in the Category-A of the new standards. The projects are held by Torrent Power, NTPC, Apraava India, Tata Power and state producing firms of Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Projects falling in this category that fails to complete the work within the timeline will have to pay a penalty of 10 paise per unit of electricity produced up to 180 days of non-compliance, 15 paise between 181 days to 365 days and 20 paise per unit after 366 days, according to the notification released by the environment ministry in April 2021. Image Source Also read: Govt starts fourth phase of commercial coal mining auction