Relinquished coal plants may be allowed to sell power

09 Dec 2020 Editorial Team

The power ministry proposes to allow coal-fired power plants to sell after finishing their agreements with their buyers. This is despite the national promise to close old plants to control pollution. The Ministry said that the draft proposal, if approved, will help in generating additional revenue and increase liquidity in power markets and distribution companies in states facing a power shortage to access cheaper power.

The letters sent to the power departments of the country's states and utilities such as National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) have said that the tariff of electricity must be as low as possible for customer interest.

The Ministry said the move would help government-run generators to sell power in any mode once the company upon completion of the tenure exits the agreement.

Previously, Power Minister RK Singh and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman planned on shutting down old coal-fired power plants. An official has mentioned cost-effective utilities that are known to provide cheap power, will be allowed to operate, whereas inefficient plants would be shut down.

After the plants complete 25 years, distribution companies operating in Punjab, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha want to surrender power allocated by federal government-run utilities, said the power ministry.

The availability of excess power and high cost of electricity were the reasons cited by the states to surrender power under the agreements.

The power ministry compiled a list in 2019 that shows that the distribution companies wanted to surrender power generated from utilities with a capacity of 5.75 GW.

Image source

Infrastructure Urban

11 Mar 2026

India Expands Semiconductor Training To 500 Institutions

Under the Chips to Startups programme of the India Semiconductor Mission, the Union minister responsible for Railways, Information and Broadcasting, and Electronics and IT reported notable progress in talent development. He indicated that over the past four years substantial steps have been taken towards a 10-year target of training 85,000 engineers in semiconductor design. World-class EDA tools have been deployed in 315 academic institutions across the country to provide students with practical exposure to chip design. These EDA tools are supported by leading global firms and are accessible t..

Delhi Institutions Support India Semiconductor Mission

The Government of India has prioritised talent development through training, upskilling and workforce development under the Chips to Startups initiative of the India Semiconductor Mission, with officials noting progress in four years towards a 10-year target of training 85,000 engineers in semiconductor design. Electronic design automation tools provided by Synopsys, Cadence, Siemens, Renesas, Ansys and AMD have been deployed in 315 academic institutions, enabling students to gain practical chip design experience. Chips have been fabricated and tested at the Semiconductor Laboratory, Mohali, a..

NHA Announces Winners Of NHCX Hackathon At IIT Hyderabad

The National Health Authority (NHA) has concluded the NHCX Hackathon under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) to stimulate innovation around the National Health Claims Exchange (NHCX). The winning teams presented their solutions at the NHCX Innovation Meet held at IIT Hyderabad during a two-day event in March 2026 that also served as the hackathon grand finale. The hackathon itself ran from 22 to 28 February 2026 and aimed to accelerate paperless, transparent claims processing across India. The event was organised with a range of ecosystem partners, including the Insurance Regulatory a..