*

India plans roughly $80 bln in new coal-power projects by

2031

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Many shortlisted projects located in water-stressed areas

*

Thermal plant operators like areas with easy land

availability,

with water access an afterthought

*

Expansion likely to fuel further conflict between

residents and

industry

By Krishna N. Das, Sarita Chaganti Singh

CHANDRAPUR/SOLAPUR, India, June 9 (Reuters) - April

marks the start of the cruelest months for residents of Solapur,

a hot and dry district in western India. As temperatures soar,

water availability dwindles. In peak summer, the wait for taps

to flow can stretch to a week or more.

Just a decade ago, water flowed every other day, according

to the local government and residents of Solapur, some 400 km

inland from Mumbai.

Then in 2017, a 1,320-megawatt coal-fired power plant run by

state-controlled NTPC began operations. It provided

the district with energy - and competed with residents and

businesses for water from a reservoir that serves the area.

Solapur illustrates the Catch-22 facing India, which has 17%

of the planet's population but access to only 4% of its water

resources. The world's most populous country plans to spend

nearly $80 billion on water-hungry coal plants by 2031 to power

growing industries like data center operations.

The vast majority of these new projects are planned for

India's driest areas, according to a power ministry document

reviewed by Reuters, which is not public and was created for

officials to track progress.

Many of the 20 people interviewed by Reuters for this story,

which included power company executives, energy officials and

industry analysts, said the thermal expansion likely portended

future conflict between industry and residents over limited

water resources.

Thirty-seven of the 44 new projects named in the undated

power ministry shortlist of future operations are located in

areas that the government classifies as either suffering from

water scarcity or stress. NTPC, which says it draws 98.5% of its

water from water-stressed areas, is involved in nine of them.

NTPC said in response to Reuters' questions that it is

"continuously striving towards conservation of water with best

of our efforts in Solapur," including using methods like

treating and reusing water. It did not answer queries about

potential expansion plans.

India's power ministry has told lawmakers in parliament, most

recently in 2017, that the locations of coal-fired power plants

are determined by factors including access to land and water and

that state governments are responsible for allocating water to

them.

Access to land is the dominant consideration, two federal

groundwater board officials and two water researchers told

Reuters.

India's complex and arcane land laws have delayed many

commercial and infrastructure projects for years, so power

operators under pressure to meet burgeoning demand pick areas

where they are likely to face little resistance, said Rudrodip

Majumdar, an energy and environment professor at the National

Institute of Advanced Studies in Bengaluru.

"They look for areas with easy land availability - minimum

resistance for maximum land - even if water is available only

far away," he said.

The federal power ministry, as well as energy and water

authorities in Maharashtra state, where Solapur is located, did

not respond to queries.

Delhi attempted to reduce its reliance on coal before reversing

track after the COVID pandemic. It has invested heavily in

renewable energy sources like solar and hydro, but thirsty

thermal power will still be dominant for the coming decades.

India's former top energy bureaucrat Ram Vinay Shahi said

ready access to power was strategically important for the

country, whose per-capita power consumption is far lower than

its regional rival China.

"The only energy resource we have in the country is coal,"

he said. "Between water and coal, preference is given to coal."

'NOTHING' IN SOLAPUR?

Solapur resident Rajani Thoke plans her life around water in

high summer. On days with supply, "I do not focus on anything

other than storing water, washing clothes and such work," said

the mother of two, who strictly polices her family's water use.

Sushilkumar Shinde, the federal power minister who approved

the Solapur plant in 2008, when the area had already been

classified "water scarce," told Reuters he helped NTPC procure

the land by negotiating payments to locals.

The member of the opposition Congress party, who won

election to retain Solapur's parliamentary seat a year after the

plant's approval, defended the operation on grounds of NTPC's

sizable investment. The $1.34 billion plant generated thousands

of jobs during its construction and now provides part-time

employment to about 2,500 locals.

"I made sure farmers got good money for the land NTPC

acquired," he said, adding that mismanagement by local

authorities was to blame for water shortages.

Solapur municipal official Sachin Ombase acknowledged that

water distribution infrastructure had not kept up with

population growth, but said that authorities were trying to

address the problem.

Shinde said "there was nothing" in Solapur in 2008 and that

residents who received land payments had no reason to oppose the

plant.

Researcher Shripad Dharmadhikary, who founded environment

advocacy group Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, said local politicians

often supported splashy infrastructure projects to boost their

popularity.

Any "problems come up much later," he said.

Even before the Solapur plant started operating, there were

signs of the trouble to come. The first of its two units was

supposed to start generating power by the middle of 2016, but it

was delayed by more than 12 months because of years of severe

water shortages, according to a 2020 regulatory filing.

The absence of nearby water resources meant the station

ended up drawing on water from a reservoir about 120 km away.

Such distances can sharply increase costs and the risk of water

theft, said Dharmadhikary and two plant sources.

As of May 2023, the station is among India's least

water-efficient, according to the latest available federal

records. It also has among the lowest capacity utilization rates

of coal-fired plants, according to data from government

think-tank NITI Aayog.

NTPC said its data indicates the Solapur plant has an

efficiency ratio in line with the country's norms.

Indian stations typically consume twice as much water as

their global counterparts, according to the Delhi-based Centre

for Science and Environment think-tank.

Solapur plant officials told reporters in March that capacity

utilization will improve with increasing demand, indicating that

water consumption could surge in the future.

A forthcoming survey on water use in Solapur led by state

groundwater authorities and reviewed by Reuters showed that

irrigation demand in the district outstrips supply by a third.

Dharmes Waghmore owns farmland a few miles from the plant

and said that developing it would provide more financial

security than his current casual work.

But he said borrowing money to develop the land by drilling

a bore well is too risky: "What if there's no water?"

Kuladeep Jangam, a top local official, said authorities were

struggling to draw businesses to Solapur.

The lack of "water neutralizes all other pull factors," he

said.

THIRST FOR WATER

Since 2014, India has lost 60.33 billion units of coal-power

generation across the country - equivalent to 19 days of

coal-power supply at June 2025 levels - because water shortages

force plants to suspend generation, according to federal data.

Among the facilities that have struggled with shortages is

the 2,920 MW Chandrapur Super Thermal Power Station, one of

India's largest.

Located about 500 km northeast of Solapur but also in a

water-stressed area, the plant shuts several of its units for

months at a time when the monsoon delivers less rain than usual,

according to NITI Aayog data.

Despite the challenges, the plant is considering adding 800

MW of new capacity, according to the power ministry list seen by

Reuters and half a dozen sources at Mahagenco, which operates

the station.

The document indicates the plant hasn't identified a water

source for the expansion, though it has already sourced its

coal.

State-owned Mahagenco did not respond to Reuters' questions.

The plant's thirst for water has previously led to tensions with

residents of nearby Chandrapur city. Locals protested the

station during a 2017 drought, prompting officials such as local

lawmaker Sudhir Mungantiwar to order it to divert water to

homes.

Mungantiwar, however, says he supports the expansion of the

plant, which he hopes will lead to it retiring water-inefficient

older units.

But the station has already delayed a plan to decommission

two polluting and water-guzzling power units with a capacity of

420 MW by about seven years, citing instructions from the

federal government, the company sources said.

The Indian government asked power companies not to retire old

thermal plants until the end of the decade due to a surge in

demand following the pandemic, Reuters has reported.

Chandrapur resident Anjali, who goes by one name, said she

is resigned to visiting a tap installed by the station near one

of its gates for drinking water.

"We're poor, we make do with whatever we can get," she said.