Parliament Question: Water crisis in the coal sector

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER RAJYA SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.318 ANSWERED ON 23.03.2026 WATER CRISIS IN THE COAL SECTOR 318 SMT. SAGARIKA GHOSE: Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state: (a) units of coal-generated power lost due to water shortages since 2023, year-wise; (b) the details of power plant shut down due to water shortages since 2023; (c) the details of new projects shortlisted for future operations that are located in areas classified as either suffering from water scarcity or stress; (d) whether there have been farmer protests and local diversions over the effects of water shortage; and (e) compensation to affected districts for economic losses from halted output? A N S W E R THE MINISTER OF POWER (SHRI MANOHAR LAL) (a) to (e) : A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. *******STATEMENT STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) IN RESPECT OF RAJYA SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.318 FOR REPLY ON 23.03.2026 REGARDING WATER CRISIS IN THE COAL SECTOR ASKED BY SMT. SAGARIKA GHOSE. ****** (a) & (b): As per details submitted by the generating utilities, there has been no shutdown of coal based power plants due to water shortage. However, the coal-based plants have intimated some generation loss due to other water related issues (pipeline leakages, desalination plant outage etc.) and the year-wise details since 2023 are given at Annexure- I. (c): As per the National Compilation on Dynamic Ground Water Resources of India, 2025 of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, groundwater assessment units ( districts, blocks etc) across the country are categorised as Safe (less or equal to 70%), Semi-critical (greater than 70% and less or equal to 90%), Critical (greater than 90% and less or equal to 100%) & Over Exploited ( greater than 100%) based on ratio of annual groundwater extraction and replenishment of phreatic aquifer. Accordingly, there are three (03) numbers of coal-based power projects under construction or expansion located in water-stressed districts and their details are at Annexure-II. Generation being a de-licensed activity any decision related to establishment/ operationalization of coal-based thermal power plant is taken by the generating company/project developer based on their techno-economic and commercial requirements and assessment of local conditions, which includes availability of water. (d) & (e): Ministry of Power has not received any report regarding farmer protests on account of diversion/scarcity of water. ************ANNEXURE-I ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN PARTS (a) & (b) OF THE STATEMENT LAID IN REPLY TO STARRED QUESTION NO. 318 ANSWERED IN THE RAJY SABHA ON 23.03.2026 REGARDING WATER CRISIS IN THE COAL SECTOR *********** Details of Coal generated power lost due to other water related issues Year State Sector Station District Unit Capacity Actual Trip Duration Losses Type No (MW) Date & Time (Hrs) (MU) 2024 Chhattisgarh IPP BINJKOTE Raigarh 1 300.00 18-Mar-2024 213.95 64.19 SECTOR TPP 14:54:00 Chhattisgarh IPP BINJKOTE Raigarh 2 300.00 09-Jun-2024 83.10 24.93 SECTOR TPP 01:30:00 Andhra IPP VIZAG Visakhapatnam 2 520.00 10-Jun-2024 220.13 114.47 Pradesh SECTOR TPP 13:30:00 2025 Chhattisgarh IPP BINJKOTE Raigarh 1 300.00 23-May-2025 108.87 32.66 SECTOR TPP 01:11:00 Gujarat STATE GANDHI Gandhi Nagar 3 210.00 23-Jul-2025 84.53 17.75 SECTOR NAGAR 11:28:00 TPS Gujarat STATE GANDHI Gandhi Nagar 4 210.00 23-Jul-2025 82.62 17.35 SECTOR NAGAR 11:53:00 TPS ***************ANNEXURE-II ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN PART (c) OF THE STATEMENT LAID IN REPLY TO STARRED QUESTION NO. 318 ANSWERED IN THE RAJY SABHA ON 23.03.2026 REGARDING WATER CRISIS IN THE COAL SECTOR *********** Coal-based Thermal Power Plants (TPPs) under construction and awarded located in water- stressed districts Status (Under Source of Sl Name of State District Utility Sector Construction/ Category Water No TPP Awarded) Uttar Kanpur Ghatampur Under Ganga River 1. NUPPL Central Semi-critical Pradesh Nagar TPP Construction Yamuna DCR TPP Under Western 2. Haryana HPGCL State Over Exploited Nagar Ext Construction Jamuna Canal Awarded but Parwan River Adani 3. Rajasthan Baran Kawai TPP Private due for Over Exploited Power construction **************