The state cabinet has given approval to a supercritical thermal power plant in Koradi near Nagpur which is a replacement for the aged polluting units. A budget of Rs 8,500 crore, to be raised through debt (80 per cent) and equality (20 per cent), was cleared on Thursday. According to the CMO, the state-run Mahagenco (generation company) will build two units of 660 megawatts each using modern technology that will reduce pollution. The old units, now defunct, had the capacity of 1,250 MW. The new unit will have a total capacity of 1,320 MW.

Recently, the project was mired in controversy because of opposition from environmental activists, who claimed that it would add to the pollution and challenged the public hearing in the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court. The public hearing report has been sent to the Ministry of Environment and Forests for clearance.