NTPC's 1,980 MW Jharkhand plant wins cabinet approval

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) has approved a proposal by NTPC Ltd to set up three power plant units with a total capacity of 1,980 megawatts in Jharkhand, a government statement said on Wednesday.

State-run miner Coal India Ltd will supply the project, delayed for the past 14 years, commencing during the period 2018 through 2022, the statement said.

Coal India, which produces nearly 80 percent of India's coal, supplies fuel at rates cheaper than its spot prices to those with whom it has long-term fuel supply pacts in arrangements called coal linkages.

About 70 percent of power generated in India is from burning coal.

The power plant units of NTPC, the country's largest thermal power producer, would have a life of about 35 years and would be set up on a pit-head with eco-friendly, super-critical technology, the statement said.

The North Karanpura plants, to be located in Chatra district, are NTPC's maiden project in Jharkhand, where about 26 percent of the population is tribal.

(Reporting by Malini Menon; editing by Keiron Henderson)