Thar Mine Expansion Meets Circular Debt: The Phase-III Financing Bind

In October 2024 the Sindh government publicly flagged a financing bind around SECMC’s mine expansion. The mine was already producing about 7.6 million tonnes per annum for Engro Powergen Thar, Thar Energy, and ThalNova. Expansion toward 11.4 million tonnes per annum to supply additional coal, including for Lucky Electric, required financial close that Chinese lenders were slow to bless. A domestic fuel success story still depends on CPPA-G and IPP payment chains. The Chief Minister’s reported asks were straightforward: accelerate Joint Cooperation Committee processes for lender comfort, and make CPPA-G settle outstanding and current bills promptly.

Reporting cited potential losses on the order of five million dollars per month if Phase-III COD commitments to the Thar Coal and Energy Board slipped past the end-September 2025 mandate then in view. Transition Economics Institute’s counsel is to treat mine-payment discipline as a circular-debt priority equal to DISCO anti-theft. Environmental and community licences must stay on the critical path alongside finance. Imported-coal plants watching Thar expansion will lobby on dispatch and tariff grounds.