Power crisis: Govt asks states to import coal for blending, ensure arrival of imports by May

New Delhi: Union Power Minister RK Singh reviewed the status of the import of coal for blending in the thermal power plants with the states on Thursday. Power Secretary Alok Kumar, senior officials of the state governments, and gencos were present in the meeting held virtually. The minister highlighted the importance of importing coal for blending in thermal power plants, in view of the constraints in domestic coal supply to meet the increased demand. The states were advised to place orders for importing of coal for blending purposes so that the additional coal reaches power plants from the month of May itself.

Singh stated that domestic coal would be supplied to all gencos in proportion to the coal received from coal companies. He further advised the states to increase the output from captive mines to meet their coal requirements which will help in reducing the burden on the linkage coal.

Govt asks states to ensure coal offtake through RCR mode

He emphasized that states need to take actions to ensure coal supply to their power plants by ensuring off-take in the Rail-cum-Road (RCR) mode to meet the shortfall in coal requirement at their power plants. He also stated that in the event of states not lifting the RCR coal, it would be de-allocated and offered to other states and the concerned states would be responsible for any shortages and consequent power shortages in their states.

As per the data presented by Central Electricity Authority (CEA) in the meeting, it was noted that the states of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra have placed orders for the import of coal, while Punjab and Gujarat are in the advanced stage of finalisation of the tenders. "And other states need to put extra efforts to import coal for blending at their power plants in time. The states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh are in the process of issuing the tenders, and Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand have not yet issued tender or taken any significant actions for the import of coal and were advised to take necessary actions to ensure coal supply to their power plants," said the Ministry of Power.

The status of RCR was also deliberated upon and it was seen that the progress of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on lifting the allotted coal was not satisfactory. These states were advised to expedite lifting this coal, failing which the RCR coal would be allocated to other gencos which need it, the government said.

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