CIL raps power plants on coal requirement

Coal India Limited (CIL), the world’s single largest producer of coal, has hit out at the power stations and the captive power plants (CPPs) in the country for their failure to step up imports and expedite the process of developing the coal blocks.

Coal-based power stations and CPPs across the country need to import the requisite amount of coal and expedite the process of developing the coal blocks allocated to them to meet their expansion plans, said Partha S Bhattacharyya chairman, CIL.

The coal ministry has so far allocated 201 captive coal blocks with a cumulative reserve of 42 billion tonnes, but 85-90 per cent of these coal blocks remain untapped.

Instead of raising frequent hue and cry over the issue of shortfall of coal stock and constantly blaming CIL for inadequate coal supplies, the power stations need to do a balancing act to meet their growing coal requirement, he added.

CIL produced 404 million tonnes (mt) of coal in 2008-09 and its coal output is projected at over 500 mt by the end of 2011-12.

According to industry estimates, the domestic coal output has failed to meet the demand especially that of the power producers and the country needed to scale up coal imports by 10-15 per cent every year.

“CIL cannot meet 100 per cent of the coal requirement of all the power stations across the country. We are meeting 85-90 per cent of the coal requirement of these power stations and the remaining has to met by them either though imports or development of the captive coal blocks or both”, Bhattacharyya told Business Standard.

According to the data compiled by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) (as on July 6 this year), as many as 30 power stations across the country were facing a critical state with coal stock of less than seven days.

Of these 30 power stations, 12 were reeling under the super-critical state with coal stock of less than four days.

The total coal stock of the different power plants in that period was around 11 mt against the normative coal stock of 22 mt.

CIL on its part was committed to supply 313 mt of coal to the various power plants in the county in this fiscal.

In 2008-09, we supplied 296 mt of coal to the power stations as against the target of 292 mt, said Bhattacharyya.

To secure long-term coal supplies of the power stations across the country, CIL was looking to sign the bipartite Fuel Supply Agreement with the 70-odd power stations throughout the country. CIL had already inked the FSA with National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).