NLC India Ltd signed MoUs with Odisha’s IPICOL on 22 October for a 3,200 MW coal plant worth Rs 35,000 crore and a Rs 2,000 cr mineral unit.

The state-owned company put pen to paper in Mumbai. I S Jasper Rose, who looks after mines and land at NLC India, signed for the company, while Aboli Sunil Naravane, managing director of IPICOL, signed for the Odisha agency.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi watched along with NLC India chairman and managing director Prasanna Kumar Acharya.

The power plant is the big one. It will have four units of 800 MW each and use ultra super critical technology, a newer design that burns coal more efficiently.

The likely cost is about Rs 35,000 crore, and the project should create around 4,000 jobs. The second agreement covers a beach sand plant.

It would process heavy minerals found in beach sand, with a tentative spend of Rs 2,000 crore and roughly 500 jobs. That is a fresh area for a company known for power and mining.

There is a third idea on the table. NLC India will study whether it can turn coal into synthesis gas for fertiliser production.

No cost has been named for it yet, and the company links the idea to the government’s self-reliance push.

None of this is built yet. An MoU only sets the framework, and each project still needs approvals and further development before work starts.

Both sides say the agreements are meant to support jobs, industry and infrastructure in Odisha.

NLC India has had a busy few weeks. On 30 September its board approved a 50:50 joint venture with Nalco for a 1,080 MW plant.

Its subsidiary NIRL also won a 265 MW battery storage bid in Haryana, reported on 1 October.

In September the company set a target of 10 GW of renewable capacity by 2030. On 5 October it named P L S S Chaitanya Prakash as Director (Power), a post he holds until December 2029.

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