India lacks equipment for continuous radioactivity monitoring, Adani tells EAC

India does not currently have commercially available instruments for continuous monitoring of radioactivity and heavy metals in coal and ash, according to submissions made by Adani Power Limited to the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) for Thermal Projects. Taking note of this limitation, the EAC has recommended amending the environmental clearance (EC) condition for the company’s 600 MW coal-based thermal power plant in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh.

The EAC, in its latest meeting, considered Adani Power’s request to modify an existing EC condition that requires the company to establish a built-in continuous monitoring mechanism for radioactivity and heavy metals in coal, fly ash and bottom ash after undertaking a long-term study.

The company informed the committee that continuous monitoring instruments for radioactivity and heavy metals are not available from suppliers in India and that continuous monitoring is not technically feasible.

After examining the request, the EAC recommended replacing the continuous monitoring requirement with annual testing.

Annual testing 

Under the revised condition, coal and ash samples will be analysed once every year for radioactivity and heavy metal content through third-party National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL)-accredited laboratories. The results will be submitted with the six-monthly environmental clearance compliance reports.

According to the company, radioactivity testing is currently carried out by the Department of Atomic Energy’s Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT), while heavy metal analysis is undertaken by NABL-accredited laboratories. These reports are periodically submitted to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board (CECB).

Project details

The Raigarh Thermal Power Plant is a 600 MW (1×600 MW) coal-based project located in the villages of Bade Bhandar, Chote Bhandar, Sarvani and Amali Bhona in Raigarh district, Chhattisgarh.

The project received its original environmental clearance on May 20, 2010, followed by amendments in 2015, 2019 and 2020, and transfer approvals in 2019 and 2023. Its latest Consent to Operate (CTO) was issued by the Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board on March 28, 2025.

The EAC also noted that a show cause notice issued by the MoEF&CC on July 31, 2025, for non-compliance with environmental clearance conditions was closed after a personal hearing on January 22, 2026, which concluded that there were no pending non-compliances.

The case goes beyond one plant. It highlights a gap in India’s monitoring infrastructure for coal-based generation, where the absence of continuous testing tools can force regulators to depend on annual third-party checks instead of real-time surveillance. That shift reduces the frequency of checks on radioactivity and heavy metals in coal and ash, even as thermal plants continue to handle materials that require close environmental oversight. 

The featured photograph is for representation only.