Bhagyashree Rath, Researcher - Environment and Climate Change

Determining the performance of a power plant can be a complex topic to understand, given the various factors such as availability of fuel/water, installed capacity, age of unit, planned outage etc, at play.

The power sector is one of the most highly stressed sectors, so the financial crisis surrounding the Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS) group prompted us to take s a closer look into the business as a whole. We share some insights into their subsidiaries, source of procurement, debt structure, and long-term power purchase agreements.

Investment in infrastructure plays a critical role in ensuring a country’s development. It is perceived that growth in infrastructure will establish a better economy and create a more equitable world. This, however, has led to a significantly greater demand on natural resources for energy, water, and food. These infrastructure projects, which have been the main cause for rapid urbanization, have also been implicated in reports of increasing environmental damage and weakening human rights.

Electricity generation has largely been powered by coal as the raw material, for last 200 years and it is expected to be the major source of electricity for the next few decades. However, coal impacts the environment more than any other source of electricity generation such as natural gas, oil, and renewable energy sources.