World Bank to lend $80 mn for 'greener' coal-based power

NEW DELHI: The World Bank will extend a $180-million loan to India for upgrading its polluting coal-fired power plants and bringing down carbon emissions.

The government has initiated a National Renovation and Modernisation Program which, over the next decade, aims to rehabilitate old and inefficient power plants with a cumulative capacity of 27,000 MW���almost a fifth of India���s installed power capacity of 145,000 MW. It had sought the World Bank���s help to launch the first phase of the national programme.

���The $225.5-million World Bank-Global Environment Facility-assisted Coal-fired Generation Rehabilitation Project will thus rehabilitate and modernise around 200-220 MW of capacity at each of the three coal-fired power plants at Bandel in West Bengal, Koradi in Maharashtra and Panipat in Haryana,��� a World Bank communique on Friday said.

The assistance also comprises a GEF grant of $45.4 million. GEF is a global partnership among 178 countries, international institutions, non-governmental organisations and the private sector to address environmental issues and support national sustainable development initiatives.

At present, about 80% of electricity supplied to homes, farms and factories in India come from coal-fired generation plants, one-third of which are old, inefficient, and emit harmful gases into the atmosphere, it said.