New Delhi: Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL), India’s second-largest coal producer, and also a state sector undertaking, has planned to foray into commercial power generation. “This diversification is forward integration into the energy chain by us. Our operations are expanding now,” said a senior official.

The company has plans to invest Rs 5,600 crore over the next four years to set up a 1,200-Mw thermal power plant at Adilabad district in Andhra Pradesh. “The coal-fired power project will consist of two units of 600 Mw each. We have already tied-up all the land and water requirements for the first phase,” said E V Krishna Reddy, director, finance.

Coal for the pithead project would be sourced from SCCL’s own mines, at a distance of 12 km from the project site. “The power plant will require around five million tones of e-grade coal per annum. We have some open-cast mining projects lined up for this,” the first official said.