"The project, which is expected to lower carbon emissions and boost power production at these plants, is co-financed with a $45.4-million grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF)," the funding agency said in a statement.
This would be the first step in a decade-long Indian plan to augment power supply by rehabilitating a range of old coal-fired plants even as the country moves to more climate-friendly options for energy generation in the long term, the World Bank said.
With the proposal, around 200-220 MW capacity each of the three coal-fired power plants at Bandel in West Bengal, Koradi in Maharashtra, and Panipat, Haryana will be modernised.
"If scaled up effectively to the remaining similar units needing rehabilitation, India could be looking at emissions cuts anywhere between 10 to 13 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent each year," Mikul Bhatia, World Bank energy specialist and project team leader, said.
Currently, around 80 per cent of the electricity supplied to homes, farms and factories in India come from coal-fired generation plants, one-third of which are old, inefficient, and emit harmful gases into the atmosphere, it said.
