New Delhi, July 27 : The Power Ministry has estimated that the expansion required in the country’s thermal capacity to meet the growing demand for electricity will entail an expenditure of a minimum of Rs 6.67 lakh crore by 2031-32, Minister of State for Power Shripad Naik informed the Parliament on Thursday.

In order to meet the estimated electricity demand by the year 2031-32, generation planning studies have been carried out by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), he told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

As per the study results, it is envisaged that to meet the base load requirement of the country in 2032, the required coal and lignite-based installed capacity would be 283 GW against the present installed capacity of 217.5 GW.

Considering this, the Centre proposes to set up an additional minimum 80 GW coal-based capacity by 2031-32, Naik said.

The estimated capital cost for setting up new coal-based thermal capacity as considered in the National Electricity Plan is Rs 8.34 crore per MW (1,000 MW=1GW). The cost has been worked out at the 2021-22 price level.

To reduce the dependence on coal-based thermal power plants, the government has planned to augment non-fossil fuel-based installed electricity generation capacity.

India, in its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), stands committed to achieve about 50 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030. At present, it has already achieved 45.5 per cent Installed Capacity from non-fossil fuel-based resources.