April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Electricity demand from investors such as Ford Motor Co., Hyundai Motor Co. and Nokia OYJ may boost coal demand in India as Tamil Nadu, the biggest wind power generator in the country, adds new coal-fired units.
The Tamil Nadu Electricity Board may add three units of 600 megawatts each this year, which will boost the state utility’s coal consumption by about 9 million metric tons, said J.P.S. Amarnath, chief engineer for coal. The utility, which consumes 15 million tons annually, imports about 2 million tons.
“We are currently importing coal from Indonesia,” Amarnath said in an interview in Chennai. “We have tie-ups with Coal India to meet our additional needs.” The supply agreements may run as long as two decades and carry penalties for non- delivery, he said.
Tamil Nadu, India’s second-most industrialized state, plans to add 8,000 megawatts over the next four years to ease blackouts and power cuts of 6-9 hours a day, according to the state utility. Most of the additional capacity will be coal- fired, said C.P. Singh, the head of the utility, in Chennai. Hyundai, Ford and Nokia are among international companies to establish factories outside Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu.
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