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Adani Power announced on Friday that the company has received the Letter of Award (LoA) from Bihar State Power Generation Company Ltd. (BSPGCL) for procurement of electricity over 25 years. The company will set up a 2,400 MW (800 MW X 3) power plant at Bhagalpur district of Bihar with an investment of USD 3 billion.In a statement, Adani Power said it has received a Letter of Award (LoA) for 25-years long-term procurement of electricity from Bihar State Power Generation Company Ltd. (BSPGCL), which it will supply from a 2,400 MW (800 MW X 3) greenfield ultra super critical plant to be set up at Pirpainti in Bhagalpur district of Bihar. This would be followed by the signing of the Power Supply Agreement (PSA) between the entities, the company stated.BSPGCL has awarded the LoA to Adani Power on behalf of North Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd (NBPDCL) and South Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd (SBPDCL), the two state utilities. "With our upcoming ultra-supercritical, high-efficiency Pirpainti project in Bihar, we are setting new benchmarks in operational excellence and sustainability," S B Khyalia, Chief Executive Officer of Adani Power, said. Earlier, Adani Power had emerged as the winner in the tariff-based competitive bidding process by the BSPGCL, as it offered the lowest supply price of Rs 6.075 per KWh.The company estimated direct and indirect employment generation of 10,000 to 12,000 personnel during the construction phase and 3,000 once in operation. India's power demand is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years, with peak demand rising from the current 250 GW to 400 GW by 2031-32, and 700+ GW by 2047, propelled by rapid industrialisation, urbanisation, and a growing population, it said. Thermal power, with its inherent ability to provide large-scale, reliable, and round-the-clock power, will continue to remain the backbone of our energy security, providing critical base-load and grid-balancing support, it stated. To meet this ever-increasing power demand, the government has envisaged an additional 100 GW of thermal capacity to be added by 2035, it stated. Adani Power has an installed thermal power capacity of 18,110 MW spread across twelve power plants across Indian states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Tamil Nadu, as well as a 40 MW solar power plant in Gujarat.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday told a visiting trade delegation that the government will extend comprehensive support to exporters to sustain growth momentum, a day after an extra 50% US tariff on most Indian goods took effect.At the same time, Sitharaman underscored “the importance of protecting workers’ livelihoods, calling upon industry leaders to reassure employees of job continuity even amidst global headwinds,” according to a statement by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).The minister told the FIEO delegation that the government is committed to addressing the exporting community’s concerns and exploring all possible steps to safeguard its interest, according to the statement by the apex exporters’ body. The additional tariff is estimated to impact about 55% of India’s goods exports to the US.Protecting Trade InterestsBoth the countries have kept the communications channel open to resolve the ongoing tariff discord. The US accounted for a fifth of India’s merchandise exports last fiscal. The delegation that met Sitharaman was headed by FIEO president SC Ralhan and comprised its other senior representatives, along with Pankaj Chadha, chairman of the engineering goods exporters' body EEPC India.“The finance minister’s commitment that the government will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with exporters demonstrates the priority being accorded to safeguarding India’s trade interests and employment,” Ralhan said. “FIEO reaffirmed its resolve to work closely with the government to overcome current challenges, diversify export markets and further strengthen India’s position in global trade,” it said in the statement.