Evaluation of Competitiveness of Power Plants: Evidence From India

This study attempts to gauge the relative performance of a set of large size coal-based power stations of India. The primary data for the study were collected through survey questionnaires for relevant operating and performance parameters for India’s 18 coal-based power stations including Mundra and Saasan Ultra-Mega Power Projects (UMPPs). Data Envelopment analysis (DEA) has been used in the study to gauge the relative performance of Mundra UMPP with Saasan UMPP and other large size coal-based power stations of the country. The classical DEA model has been used to distinguish the efficient coal power stations from rest of the large sized coal-based power stations of the country. Power stations with total installed generation capacity of 2000MW or more each were selected for the study. The study indicates the need and scope for improvement in the performance of power plants for sustainable industrialisation and urbanisation.