NTPC to shut old plants with capacity of 11 giga watts

State-owned NTPC has decided to shut down old polluting power plants of capacity totalling roughly 11 GW and replace those with new ones which are highly efficient, Power Minister Piyush Goyal told the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

Replying to questions, the Minister said there is no proposal to discontinue thermal power plants and the older plants should be gradually phased out, and new ones should be set up.

"NTPC has already decided to close down roughly 11,000 MW of old thermal plants which are polluting and causing distress in the local areas also and not good for the country. "We are planning to replace these with new power plants which are highly efficient...super critical technology power plants," Goyal said.

He also said there was international ban on thermal plants.

"We are still dependent on thermal power and will continue to depend for some more years to come until new technologies come in," the

Minister said.