India's power sector struggling to service and pay off loans

Mumbai

IN THE central Indian village of Raikheda, the construction of a thermal coal power plant once promised jobs and economic progress.

Years after its completion though, the debt-saddled project that promised power supply to hundreds of thousands of homes, sits mostly idle. It is unable to buy coal to power the plant or sell electricity to utilities. Dozens of nearby stores that were reliant on the project's success have shut down.

Raikheda is not alone. A Reuters analysis of India's power output data shows that over 50 coal and gas-fired power plants in India are largely mothballed, or operating at a bare minimum.

They are symbolic of a broader power sector struggling to service and pay off billions of dollars in loans, a major debt risk for the banking sector that could come to…