The plan to expand annual coal extraction in Thar for more power generation has sparked strong opposition from local communities and civil society groups. The plan, long in the pipeline, was finally formalised when the Sindh-Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) filed a petition with the Thar Coal Energy Board (TCEB) in June, seeking — through a multi-year tariff — an increase in coal price to support the planned expansion of coal extraction capacity from the current 7.6 million tonnes to 11.2m tonnes for power generation as well as use by other industries.
A public-private partnership venture of the Sindh government and a consortium of private firms, SECMC’s petition has requested for a levelised tariff of $37.30 per tonne for the next 30 years. The proposed tariff includes a capacity payment of $19.89 a tonne. This translates into over 53pc of the tariff, which will be $39.42 per tonne (including $21.77 as a capacity charge) for the first 10 years and $28.79 per tonne (carrying the capacity payment of $12.79 per tonne) for the next 20 years.
In July, while chairing a meeting of TCEB held to deliberate on measures to bolster Pakistan’s indigenous coal-based energy sector, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah (who is also chairman of TCEB) said that Thar’s coal power initiatives were already generating over 2,600 MW of electricity at a significantly lower cost of around Rs4.8 per kWh compared to power from imported coal that costs roughly Rs19.5 per kWh. “This has resulted in savings of approximately $1.3 billion in foreign exchange for the country since 2019,” he explained.
The TCEB — an entity for accelerating Thar coal development — had reviewed ongoing projects and unanimously approved several strategic initiatives aimed at enhancing the region’s coal mining and electricity generation capabilities.
Civil society organisations and Thar residents reject SECMS’s coal tariff petition, lamenting the severe damage mining has caused the surrounding region
However, civil society groups have a different view. The petition, they argue, is riddled with legal, procedural, environmental, and financial deficiencies that make its acceptance not just questionable but dangerous. In its comments submitted before the board, the Alliance for Climate Justice and Clean Energy (ACJCE), a coalition of civil society organisations committed to Pakistan’s transition from fossil fuels, rejected the petition for the revision of the Thar coal tariff and expansion of mining.
“It would deepen Pakistan’s already unhealthy reliance on coal, flying in the face of the commitments the country has made under the Paris climate accord,” Abdul Rafay from ACJCE shares. He urged policymakers, regulators, the media, and the public to recognise the grave implications of unchecked coal expansion. “This is not merely an environmental issue to be brushed aside as the cost of development; it is fundamentally a question of economic justice, legal accountability, and public welfare.”
Local communities have on multiple occasions pointed out that the damage already inflicted on Thar’s fragile water resources by existing mining and coal-fired power generation is undeniable.
“To authorise further expansion is to knowingly accelerate the depletion of water, intensify ecological harm, and condemn local communities to bear disproportionate costs for a model of energy that serves short-term corporate and political interests over long-term national welfare,” laments Leela Ram, a resident of Gorano, one of the worst-affected villages due to coal mining in the region.
Mr Ram is also suspicious of the TCEB for trying to keep the developments related to the tariff petition under wraps. “For one, the local communities were not informed about the public hearing on the tariff petition to deprive them of the opportunity to present their point of view. When we raised the issue with the board, they told us that they had done their job by putting out a message about the hearing in the newspapers. Secondly, the hearing was organised in Karachi to prevent the affected local communities from attending it,” he complains.
Nonetheless, this couldn’t deter him or other villagers from ensuring their presence at the hearing and submitting their views. “It is extremely concerning that the expansion of coal mining in Thar will severely undermine the rights of Thar citizens to a healthy, clean and sustainable environment guaranteed by the constitution. Given that coal mining and coal-based power generation have already damaged Thar’s precarious water resources, any expansion in mining activity will only increase the speed and intensity of this damage,” Mr Ram goes on, referring to various independent studies on the impact of coal extraction and power generation on the environment, livelihoods and health of local communities.
ACJCE points out that the tariff petition fails to include critical documentation such as updated feasibility studies, environmental and social impact assessments, details of engineering and procurement contracts, financing term sheets, and evidence of public consultation.
“The absence of these disclosures not only contravenes transparency, but also renders the petition legally untenable and susceptible to regulatory capture,” the submission from the alliance emphasises.
Similarly, the petition has failed to assess or disclose the broader environmental implications, such as deeper resource extraction, intensified dewatering, increased waste generation, and further land acquisition. “This has resulted in a gross underestimation of environmental, social and economic harms caused by expansion in the coal mine.”
Mr Rafay also questions the legality of diverting Thar coal to industries other than power generation. It argues that the land for the Thar coalfield was acquired for a specific public purpose: to set up mine-to-mouth electricity production plants. “Any change in the coal’s end-use constitutes a material alteration of that public purpose and, therefore, violates the land acquisition law,” he says.
The anguished voices rising from Thar’s villages should serve as a stark reminder that Pakistan’s coal ambitions are exacting an unacceptable human cost. In their submissions, residents of Thario Halepoto, Bitra, Khario Ghulam Shah, Meehari, and other villages reject the tariff petition. Their grievance is simple: decisions that will upend their lives are being taken in boardrooms far from their homes, without their consent, and without acknowledgement of the devastation they already endure.
The villagers are not rejecting “development”. They are asserting something more fundamental: their right to live with dignity, safety and justice. They speak of poisoned water, vanishing lands, dislocated families, and a culture under siege. At the very least, this requires a written and publicly accessible resettlement and compensation policy for all villages affected by existing and future coal mining and coal-based power generation in Thar.
Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, September 8th, 2025
