State-owned Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) has received green signal for expansion of its Rs 5,879.62 crore thermal power project in Telangana, according to official documents.
Union Environment Ministry has granted the clearance to the proposed project with some riders after taking into account the recommendation of a green panel.
The company's proposal is to expand the existing thermal power plant from 1,200 mega watt (MW) to 2,000 MW at Pegadapalli village in Macherial district.
SCCL has identified 127.31 hectares of land separately just adjacent to the existing plant. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 5,879.62 crore, the documents showed.
Currently, the SCCL's two thermal units with a capacity of 600 MW each in Macherial district are generating power in full load. The setting up of a proposed third unit with 800 MW capacity is an effort towards making Telangana self-reliant on power generation.
SCCL is a coal producing company in Telangana and its work is spread across six districts. It has 29 underground and 18 open-cast mines in operation.