India Vedanta power plant blast kills at least 17

By Jatindra Dash

April ‌15 (Reuters) - At ​least ​17 people died and 36 others were injured following a suspected boiler explosion at ‌a power plant operated by India's Vedanta ⁠Ltd in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, a government official ‌said on Wednesday.

Operations at ‌the 600-megawatt coal plant were suspended after the blast, senior administration official Amrit Vikas Topno told ​Reuters.

The incident took place on Tuesday at Singhitarai, about 230 km (143 miles) away from the state ⁠capital of Raipur.

The shutdown of the plant comes as India is ​poised for a harsher summer. The government has delayed the maintenance of nearly 10 ​gigawatt of coal plant capacity ‌in the absence of gas supplies due to the Mideast conflict.

The blast was ⁠likely caused by overheating in the boiler tube, District Superintendent of Police PK Thakur told Reuters.

In a statement, ⁠Vedanta said an "unfortunate incident" had occurred at its Singhitarai plant ​and that a thorough investigation is underway to determine the cause.

Vedanta said that NTPC GE Power Services operates and maintains ‌the plant.

Vedanta acquired the 1,200 MW coal power plant through a bankruptcy process ‌in 2022. Only 600 MW of the plant ⁠has been operational.

(Writing by ‌Sethuraman NR, additional ​reporting by Abhirami G in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Kim ‌Coghill)

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