Mahan Coal Limited is a 50:50 joint venture between Hindalco Industries of the Aditya Birla Group and Essar Power. It plans to extract coal from the Mahan coal block of Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh and supply it to the proposed power plants of Essar and Hindalco. Essar Power has invested Rs 4,000 crore for a 1,000-megawatt power project, while Hindalco is setting up a 750-megawatt captive power plant and has invested Rs 2,400 crore in it.

Mahan Coal Limited is a 50:50 joint venture between Hindalco Industries of the Aditya Birla Group and Essar Power, which plans to extract coal from the Mahan coal block of Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh and supply it to the proposed power plants of Essar

To mine the coal, Mahan Coal Limited needs access to 1,000 hectares of forestland, which falls under the environment ministry's no-go zone. This forest land is home to Asia's oldest Sal forests, besides being a source of livelihood for the tribal communities living there, who collect and sell forest produce, such as mahua and tendu leaves. 
Mahan Sangharsh Samiti (MSS) was formed in the year 2012 by the local people who do not support coal mining in Singrauli.

In January 2011, a survey done by the Central Pollution Control Board and IIT Delhi identified the Singrauli coalfield region (of which Mahan is a part) as the seventh most critically polluted area in the country. The region scored 81.73 on the Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index, which led to a moratorium (moratorium means a legally authorised postponement/delay before some obligations are discharged) on further expansion of mining in the area. But soon after the order, the Madhya Pradesh State Pollution Control Board submitted a remedial plan and lifted the moratorium.

To grant permission to mine coal, the environment ministry required the company to meet 36 conditions, including the holding of free and fair Village Assembly meetings for the people to decide whether they wanted a mine or not. In March 2013, a special Village Assembly convened in Amelia village in Mahan was reportedly fraudulent. Although 184 people attended the meeting, the resolution, which showed approval for Essar's mining project, had 1,125 signatures; most of them were forged--seven of the signatories had been dead for three years.

Despite this, in December 2013, the project was granted Stage II forest clearance and Stage I clearance in February 2014.
In 2014, the Mahan Sangharsh Samiti filed a case in the National Green Tribunal challenging the forest clearance accorded to the proposed coal mine. In March 2015, the allocation of the coal mine was cancelled. However, the people are still struggling to get compensation and rehabilitation due to the displacement caused by the Essar Mahan power plant.

In 2016, the Ministry of Coal allotted the Amelia coal block to THDC India Limited (formerly known as Tehri Hydro Development Corporation) for supplying coal to the Khurja Super Thermal Power Project. However, people whose land was acquired were not paid any compensation and were told not to carry out any work in their homes where the land was acquired. From December 2016 to March 2017, community members held a protest pressuring the local administration to resolve land acquisition issues. But during the protest, six people were arrested and jailed for five days.

By 2019, many people affected by the Essar Mahan power plant were resettled in areas with subpar living conditions and a lack of facilities. A villager told the media that many were compensated with a meagre amount of Rs 8,000 as opposed to the promised sum.
In March 2020, THDC India Limited stated in its monthly report that "an initial list of eligible PAFs (project-affected families) for resettlement benefits has been finalised”. However, District Collector KVS Choudary said that the publication of the list has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

Since March 2020, the original Essar–Hindalco Mahan coal project has not been revived, but new mining plans have taken shape in Singrauli. The government has allotted nearby blocks, such as Mara II Mahan and Dhirauli, to Adani’s Mahan Energen, sparking controversy as these forests were previously marked as “no-go” areas due to their biodiversity.

Locals continue to resist, citing pollution, deforestation, and poor rehabilitation. Many families displaced earlier still lack fair compensation. Protests have flared, including road blockades after accidents with coal trucks. Meanwhile, reports accuse Adani of tree cutting and rights violations without proper clearances, while the government pushes ahead with mining despite opposition.

In January 2026, the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) gave conditional in-principle approval, after which the company submitted its Stage-I forest clearance on 16 February. After 3 days of approval, on 19 February 2026, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change granted clearance for the project, which will require felling of 9,787 trees. Besides this, a compensatory plantation is planned on 24 hectares of non-forest in Charbaheria village, Narsinghpur district, far from Singrauli. 

On 21 May 2026, the Supreme Court declined to interfere with the environmental clearance granted to the project while hearing a plea filed by environmental activist Ajay Dubey.