Need to enhance coal-based plants' efficiency by reducing emissions: Govt

There is a need to enhance efficiency of coal-based power plants by reducing their emissions level, Union Minister R K Singh said on Tuesday.

The Minister for Power, New and Renewable Energy made the remarks at NTPC's Indian Power Stations O&M Conference (IPS 2024) at Raipur.

The event commemorates the historic commissioning of the first unit of NTPC at Singrauli in 1982, NTPC said in a statement.

The minister said that transition to green energy should not be worrying as both thermal and renewable shall coexist.

"The world is not against coal-based power. However, for our current and upcoming coal-based plants, it is the need of hour to develop a mechanism to ensure increasing efficiency while reducing emission," he said.

He further said he appreciates NTPC's contributions to the power sector and that he envisions the company to double its capacity from current 73 GW to 150 GW and become a global, multi-national entity operating its power plants worldwide.

The minister had earlier said that the government is working to have up to 60 GW of coal-based generation capacity in addition to the 27 GW already under construction, amid rising demand for electricity.