Power plants may not need to install Sulphur removing gear as study shows emissions are not impacting air quality

India could halt installation and award of new flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) units at public sector coal-based power plants as a recent study found that sulphur dioxide emissions from Indian coal-based power plants were not adversely impacting ambient air quality.

Niti Aayog, the government's premier think-tank, has held stakeholder consultations in this regard and is likely to recommend this in its final report by month end, officials said.

The Aayog had made such a suggestion in a draft report, after which intensive consultations were carried out before firming up the view, they said.


"There is no advantage in installing FGD in Indian coal-based low sulphur thermal power plants. This will only increase power generation cost," an official aware of the contents of NITI's draft report told ET.

FGD technique removes hazardous sulphur dioxide (SO2) from the exhaust of fossil fuel-burning power plants.

An environment ministry notification dated September 2022 mandates all coal-fired thermal power plants in the country to comply with SO2 emission norms by December 2026 or shell out a penalty, payable on per unit electricity generated, if they are not compliant beyond the deadline. However, the Aayog is of the view that the government can keep the power generation cost under check by doing away with FGD units.

"It is now recommended that placement of new orders for installation of FGD may be stopped," the Aayog's draft report said while suggesting that all thermal power plants (TPP) where FGD is already installed should be used for data collection.

The move comes after a study conducted by the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR)-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (Neeri) found that SO2 emissions from Indian coal-based power plants were not adversely impacting ambient air quality.

The CSIR-Neeri study has instead shifted focus to particulate matter (PM), which exceeds emission regulation.

Senior government officials have also flagged huge financial implications of FGD units. "This data will assess if there is any cost benefit analysis and impact on power tariff," the draft report said.

The cost of an FGD system varies from ₹1.25 crore to ₹2.0 crore per megawatt (MW). India's total installed thermal power capacity is expected to be 283 GW by 2030-31.

There are 39 FGD units deployed at 19,430 MW of coal-fired power projects in the country. These FGD units were installed to curb pollution by lowering emission of sulphur dioxide (SO2) from coal-based power plants.