Neyveli Lignite diversifies into coal mining

State-run miner Neyveli Lignite Corp (NLC) said on Friday it has diversified into coal mining for power generation and plans to become a 19,000 MW power company by 2025.

"NLC Ltd has moved from an only lignite mining and power generation company to become an energy company now by diversifying into coal based power generation and generation from renewable energy sources like solar and wind," NLC chairman Sarat Kumar Acharya said.

"We have set ourselves a high growth target to be a 19,000 MW power company (by 2025) with its own fuel security from its lignite and coal mines," he told the parliamentary consultative committee on coal, according to a statement here by the coal ministry.

Acharya gave a detailed presentation highlighting production and financial performance, capacity additions and ongoing and new projects of the company, the statement added.

He informed the committee that under the Swachh Vidyalaya Abhiyan, NLC has constructed 1,414 toilets in schools in Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan.

According to the ministry, Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal assured the committee members that NLC is keen to set up solar power plants wherever land is made available by the state governments.

NLC operates three opencast lignite mines of a total capacity of 28.5 million tons per annum at Neyveli in Tamil Nadu and one open cast lignite mine of capacity 2.1 MTPA at Barsingsar, Rajasthan.

It has five pithead thermal power stations with an aggregate capacity of 3,240 MW.

The company has also installed nine wind turbine Generators of 1.5 MW each, aggregating to 13.5 MW, as well as a 10 MW solar photo voltaic power plant.

NLC is implementing a coal based thermal power project at Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu comprising two units of 500 MW capacity each through NLC Tamil Nadu Power Ltd, a joint venture.