Uttar Pradesh and coal

Introduction
With a population of over 200 million people, Uttar Pradesh is India's most populous state; if it were an independent country, it would be the world's fifth most populous, surpassing Brazil.

Proposed coal plants
As shown in the map at the bottom of the page, proposed coal plants are distributed across most of Uttar Pradesh but are especially concentrated in the Sonbhadra district on the far southeast, adjacent to the Singrauli district in Madhya Pradesh, where some of the most intensive coal development in India has produced devastating impacts. A 2011 report by the Bretton Woods Project, "No fairy tale: Singrauli, India, still suffering years after World Bank coal investments," describes the Singrauli district in Madhya Pradesh and Sonbhadra district in Uttar Pradesh as "Once a densely forested region, the area is now a conglomeration of 11 open coal mines, and seven coal-fired power plants, with proposals to expand this to 17 more, all in an area of 1,800 square kilometres. Furthermore, a jumble of pipes mar the land for miles transporting ash, known to have carcinogenic properties, from existing coal-fired thermal power plants to massive open ponds, where it pours out day and night."

Table 1: Proposed coal plants in Uttar Pradesh
Columns may be sorted by clicking on the headers.''

Four new coal plants in Uttar Pradesh
In December 2010, it was reported that four coal fired power plants of 1320 MW each will be set up in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh "to meet the state's growing energy needs." According to Press Trust of India, a high profile government body, Energy Task Force (ETF), approved the plants. A decision was taken by ETF Chairman and UP Chief Secretary Atul Kumar Gupta. While National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) will be constructing a plant in Bihlaur, Kanpur, Torrent Power will set up one in Sandila, Wellspun and TSBC in Khurja.

June 2011: "We have no option but to beg for our lands, but begging is also a crime"
In June 2011, farmers protested Bara Thermal Power Project near Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh by staging a mass public begging, to dramatize that if the plant is built they will have no option other than begging. In footage broadcast by CVB News Service, Raj Bahadur Patel, a leader of the farmers, said, "The government acquired our lands without following the policy of land acquisition. We have been protesting for 300 days. The administration has said they will not do anything in the matter. We have appealed to the government to give us our lands as they are our source of livelihood. The farmers along with their families participated in the flag march today." Another leader, Arvind Patel, said, "We have no option but to beg for our lands, but this government says that begging is also a crime.

It was reported in February 2011 that villagers ransacked and damaged property at the site for the Bara Thermal Power Project. The protesters had reportedly inflicted damage worth Rs 1 crore.

Major Coal Companies in region

 * Coal India - The World Coal Institute states that "almost all of India's 565 [coal] mines are operated by Coal India and its subsidiaries, which account for about 86% of the country's coal production." The USGS estimates coal production from major wholly Coal India owned subsidiaries as including Northern Coalfields Ltd, which operates in Indian Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and has an annual capacity of 24 million tonnes.
 * Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut

Government Agencies

 * Ministry of Coal (India)

Related SourceWatch articles

 * India and coal
 * Andhra Pradesh and coal
 * Bihar and coal
 * Chhattisgarh and coal
 * Gujarat and coal
 * Haryana and coal
 * Jharkhand and coal
 * Karnataka and coal
 * Madhya Pradesh and coal
 * Maharashtra and coal
 * Orissa and coal
 * Punjab and coal
 * Rajasthan and coal
 * Tamil Nadu and coal
 * West Bengal and coal

External Articles

 * "Sierra Club India Trip" Sierra Club, April 12, 2011
 * Jeff Biggers, "India's Coal Rush: Interview With Jharkhand Leader Bulu Imam" League of India, March 6, 2011
 * "Jharkhand: A Disappearing World" Panos Pictures, accessed May 2011.
 * Srinivas Krishnaswamy, "SHIFTING OF GOAL POSTS: Rural Electrification in India: A Progress Report," Vasudha Foundation, March, 2010
 * Jason Miklian and Scott Carney, "Fire in the Hole: How India's economic rise turned an obscure communist revolt into a raging resource war," Foreign Policy, September / October 2010
 * Abhay Singh and Pratik Parija, "Coal India Seeks Faster Approvals, Imports, Overseas Miners", Bloomberg, July 1, 2009.
 * Ministry of Coal, "Coal Mining in India: The Past", Ministry of Coal website, accessed June 2008.
 * Ministry of Coal, 2007-2008 Annual Report", Government of India Ministry of Coal. (Large Pdf)
 * International Energy Agency, "Coal in India in 2005", International Energy Agency website, accessed June 2008.
 * U.S. Geological Survey, India 1994-2006
 * "India", World Coal Institute, undated, accessed June 2008.
 * Country Profile: Focus on India", Ecoal, World Coal Institute, July 2006.
 * Tony Herbert and Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt, "Coal Sector Loans and Displacement of Indigenous Populations: Lessons from Jharkhand" Economic and Political Weekly, June 5, 2004

External References

 * "India: National Ambient Air Quality Standards," India Central Pollution Control Board, published 1984 and 1988.