- Many preselected projects located in areas stressed by water.
- Water access afterwards for thermal plant operators.
- Expansion capable of fueling additional conflicts between residents and industry.
Chandrapur: April marks the beginning of the most cruel months for solapur residents, a hot and dry district of the west of India. As temperatures soar, water availability decreases. In summer, the await of the taps can extend up to a week or more.
A decade ago, water flowed every two days, according to the local government and the residents of Solapur, about 400 km inside the lands of Mumbai.
Then in 2017, a coal -fired power plant of 1,320 megawatts managed by the NTPC controlled by the State began its operations. He provided to the energy district – and contributed with residents and companies for the water of a reservoir that serves the region.
SOLAPUR illustrates the wrestling-22 against India, which holds 17% of the population of the planet but access to only 4% of its water resources. The most populous country in the world plans to spend nearly $ 80 billion for water -eager coal power plants by 2031 to increasing industries such as data center operations.
The vast majority of these new projects are provided for the dry areas of India, according to a document from the Ministry of the Power examined by Reuterswhich is not public and has been created so that officials can follow progress.
Many of the 20 people interviewed by Reuters For this story, which included the leaders of the electricity company, energy managers and industry analysts, said that thermal dilation probably presumed to have presumed future conflicts between industry and residents on limited water resources.
Thirty-seven of the 44 new projects appointed in the restricted list of future operations of the Ministry of Un dated Power are located in areas that the government classifies as a shortage of water or stress. The NTPC, which indicates that it draws 98.5% of its water in areas stressed by water, is involved in nine of them.
NTPC said in response to Reuters“Questions that he” continually strives to conservation water with the best of our efforts to Solapur “, in particular by using methods such as the treatment and reuse of water. He did not respond to potential expansion plans.
The Ministry of Electricity of India has declared to the legislators in Parliament, more recently in 2017, that the locations of electric power plants on coal are determined by factors including access to land and water and that the governments of the States are responsible for their water allowance.
Access to land is dominant consideration, two federal officials of the Council of Survester Water and two water researchers said Reuters.
The laws on complex and arcane lands of India have delayed many commercial projects and infrastructure for years, so pressure electricity operators to respond to the areas of booming demand where they are likely to cope with little resistance, said Rudrodip Majumdar, professor of energy and environment at the National Institute of Institute of Advanced Studies in Bengaluru.
“They are looking for areas with easy land availability – minimum resistance for maximum land – even if water is only available,” he said.
The Federal Ministry of Power, as well as the Energy and Water Authorities of the State of Maharashtra, where Solapur is located, has not answered the questions.
Delhi tried to reduce his coal dependency before reverse the track after the cocovio pandemic. It has invested massively in renewable energy sources such as solar energy and hydroelectricity, but thirsty thermal power will always be dominant for the next decades.
The former Energy Bureaucrat of India, Ram Vinay Shahi, said that ready -to -power access was strategically important for the country, whose energy consumption per capita is much lower than its China regional rival.
“The only energy resource we have in the country is coal,” he said. “Between water and coal, preference is given to coal.”
“Nothing” to Solapur?
Rajani Thoke, a resident of Solapur, plans his life around the water in high. On the days with supply, “I do not focus on something other than water storage, washing clothes and such work,” said the mother of two, who strictly polishes the use of family water.
Sushilkumar Shinde, the Federal Minister for Power who approved the Solapur factory in 2008, when the region had already been classified “to the rare,” said Reuters He helped NTPC get the ground by negotiating payments to the inhabitants.
The member of the Opposition Congress Party, which won the elections to keep the parliamentary headquarters of Solapur a year after the factory approved, defended the operation for considerable investment reasons of NTPC. The $ 1.34 billion factory has generated thousands of jobs during its construction and now offers part -time employment to around 2,500 inhabitants.
“I made sure that farmers had a lot of money for the land that NTPC has acquired,” he said, adding that mismanagement of local authorities was to blame for water shortages.
The municipal official of Solapur, Sachin Ombase, acknowledged that the water distribution infrastructure had not followed demographic growth, but said that the authorities were trying to solve the problem.
Shinde said “that there was nothing” in Solapur in 2008 and that residents who received land payments had no reason to oppose the factory.
Researcher Shripad Dharmadhikary, who founded the environment for the environment for the environment Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, said local politicians often support SPLASHY infrastructure projects to increase their popularity.
All the “problems arise much later,” he said.
Even before the Solapur factory started to work, there were signs of problems to come. The first of its two units was to start generating power by mid-2016, but it was delayed by more than 12 months due to years of severe water shortages, according to a regulatory file of 2020.
The absence of nearby water resources noted that the station ended up shooting a tank at around 120 km. Such distances can significantly increase costs and the risk of water flight, said Dharmadhikary and two plant sources.
In May 2023, the station was among the least economical in India, according to the latest federal files available. He also has among the lower rates of use of coal power plants, according to data from the Niti Aayog government’s thinking group.
NTPC said its data indicates that the Solapur factory has an efficiency ratio in accordance with the country’s standards.
Indian stations generally consume twice as much water as their global counterparts, according to the Center for Science and Environment reflection group, based in Delhi.
Managers of the Solapur factory told journalists in March that the use of capacities will improve with increasing demand, indicating that water consumption could increase in the future.
A next survey on the use of water in Solapur led by the authorities of groundwater of the State and examined by Reuters have shown that the demand for irrigation in the district exceeds the supply of a third party.
Dhames Waghmore has agricultural land a few kilometers from the factory and said development would provide more financial security than its current occasional work.
But he said that the loan of money to develop the land by drilling a bore well is too risky: “What if there is no water?”
Kulaladeep Jangam, a senior local official, said that the authorities were struggling to attract companies for Solapur.
The absence of “water neutralizes all other factors of attraction,” he said.
Thirst for water
Since 2014, India has lost 60.33 billion of coal power generation units across the country – equivalent to 19 days of coal power supply at June 2025 levels – because water shortages oblige the factories to suspend the generation, according to federal data.
Among the installations that fought with shortages, there is the 2,920 MW plant of Chandrapur Super Thermal, one of the largest in India.
Located about 500 km northeast of Solapur, but also in an area stressed with water, the plant firm several of its units for months at a time when the monsoon offers less rain than usual, according to Niti Aayog data.
Despite the challenges, the factory plans to add 800 MW of new capacities, according to the list of the Ministry of Power seen by Reuters And half a dozen sources in Mahagenco, which operates the station.
The document indicates that the factory has not identified a water source for expansion, although it has already obtained its coal.
The state Mahagenco did not respond to Reuters“Questions.
The thirst of the water plant has already led to tensions with residents of the neighboring city of Chandrapur. Residents protested at the post during a drought in 2017, which prompted officials such as the local legislator Sudhir Mungantiwar to order him to divert water towards houses.
Mungantiwar, however, says that he supports the expansion of the plant, which, according to him, will prevent him from retiring.
But the station has already delayed an out of service plan of two polluting and depreciation power units with a capacity of 420 MW of approximately seven years, citing the instructions of the federal government, said business sources.
The Indian government has asked electricity companies not to withdraw old thermal factories until the end of the decade due to an increase in demand after the pandemic, Reuters reported.
Anjali, a resident of Chandrapur, who has a name, said she was resigned to visit a tap installed by the station near one of its doors for drinking water.
“We are poor, we were satisfied with everything we can get,” she said.
