CoalMin takes up issue of power cos' Rs 9,000 cr dues to CIL

Against the backdrop of power utilities, including NTPC and DVC, owing a huge amount of about Rs 9,000 crore to CIL, the Coal Ministry has asked the Power Ministry to ensure that the outstanding amount is cleared soon.

The development follows Coal India Ltd (CIL) and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) locking horns over the issue and the state-run power utility withholding payments of about Rs 1,000 crore to CIL subsidiary ECL saying the fuel supplied was of poor quality.

"Coal Secretary S K Srivastava in a letter has asked Power Secretary P Uma Shankar to ensure steps for payment of dues of about Rs 9,000 crore by power utilities, including about Rs 3,000 crore by NTPC to CIL," a Coal Ministry official said.

After days of intense stand-off over quality of fuel with NTPC, Coal India had recently agreed to resume full supplies to it even as the power producer had refused to honour bills of its subsidiary Eastern Coalfields (ECL) saying that the quality of fuel supplied was inferior.

Asking the Power Secretary to ensure that disputes are settled within the ambit of fuel supply agreement (FSA), Srivastava, as per sources, has said that it was unfortunate that NTPC started resorting to unilateral deductions from the coal bills and making only part payments.

As per ECL, NTPC had made payments of only Rs 150 crore against their dues of Rs 1,000 crore.

The total dues of power stations to CIL has risen to over Rs 9,000 crore last month.