Coal rush

Indian coal companies are trying to earn hundreds of millions of carbon credits from the coal expansion, much to the concern of international watchdogs, who believe they are not fully equipped.

Seven major and more than 30 smaller coal-powered power stations are planned in Andhra Pradesh alone, together intended to have a capacity of 56GW. The largest plant, expected to be opened in two years, will be the $4bn Krishnapatnam power station, India's first "ultra-mega" class of coal-fired power station. With 4GW, capacity it will be one of the world's 25 biggest electricity sources, capable of powering 7m middle-class homes.

The Krishnapatnam plant has been registered with the UN clean development mechanism (CDM) and, if approved, could generate 3.5m carbon credits a year.

India last year approved plans for 173 coal-fired power stations expected to provide an extra 80-100 gigawatts (GW) of electricity capacity within a few years. Many are expected to be fuelled by cheap coal imported from Australia, Indonesia and southern Africa, but applications to mine more than 600m tonnes of coal in India have been lodged.

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