Power crisis: States asked to increase coal output from captive mines, fix RCR issue

The power minister stated that the 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 the captive mines to meet their coal requirements which will help in reducing the burden on the linkage coal.

New Delhi:Amid reports of power crisis in several states, union power minister R K Singh Thursday reviewed the status of the import of coal for blending in the thermal power plants with the states.

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 the thermal power plants, in view of the constraints in domestic coal supply to meet the increased demand. The states, according to an official release, were advised to place orders for importing coal for blending purpose so that the additional coal reaches power plants from the month of May 2022.

The power minister stated that the 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 the captive mines to meet their coal requirements which will help in reducing the burden on the linkage coal.

The minister emphasized that states need to take action 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. "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-outages in their states," read the release.

As per the data presented by CEA in the meeting, it was noted that 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 the other states need to put "extra efforts" to import the coal for blending at their power plants in time.

"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," it added.

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 this RCR coal would be allocated to other GENCOS which need it.