(Reuters) – India on Friday extended its mandate for imported coal-based power plants to operate at full capacity until Feb. 28, a government circular showed.
In October, the government had invoked an emergency clause to direct companies including Tata Power, Adani Power and Vedanta, to operate their imported coal fired plants till Oct. 15 and had further extended the mandate till Dec. 31.
Imported coal-based power plants in India have a combined annual capacity of nearly 16 gigawatts.
India’s coal-fired power output had fallen for a second straight month in September due to slower growth in electricity use and a surge in solar generation.
The country’s imports of thermal coal plunged 31.8%, its fastest rate of contraction in fifteen months, in October, Reuters had reported earlier.
India’s overall coal-based power generation over April-September rose by 5% from a year earlier, government data shows.
(Reporting by Manvi Pant and Sethuraman NR in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
