Need land to dump waste immediately: Sasan Power

Mining operations of Moher and Moher-Amlohri extension coal blocks of 3,960-Mw Sasan UMPP will shut immediately due to lack of land for dumping overburden

Sasan Power Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Power, has said if the Madhya Pradesh government doesn't take immediate steps to ensure land for dumping the overburden (waste) from coal mines, the company's operations in the state would come to a halt.

"Mining operations of the Moher and Moher-Amlohri extension coal blocks of the 3,960-Mw Sasan ultra mega power project (UMPP) will shut immediately due to lack of land for dumping overburden," the company said in a letter to the chief minister this month. "The coal has practically run out and we are in a situation in which the coal requirement of the Sasan UMPP cannot be met anymore." The company has urged the state to advise the Union coal ministry to ask Northern Coalfields Ltd to execute a deed of conveyance for transferring 414 hectares of private land to dump overburden.

A company official told Business Standard, "Coal mining at Moher and Moher-Amlohri is operational but the situation is critical. The matter has been pending since 2010. On 25 occasions, Sasan Power has written to all stakeholders, including Madhya Pradesh, the coal and power ministries, the Centre and Northern Coalfields. The chief minister of Madhya Pradesh has written to the coal minister twice to expedite the matter. However, it hasn't been resolved yet. Considering the completion of the full capacity of 3,960 Mw, availability of overburden land is critical to maintain full-capacity operations."

State energy department officials said the company had communicated the matter to state authorities, the chief minister and the Union coal minister. "They have raised the matter earlier, too, but there are procedures. The department has forwarded the matter to the Union coal ministry. Probably, a Union Cabinet decision is required to clear the allocation of land."

"We have already taken up the matter and we will see that power generation from the project remains unaffected," said Madhya Pradesh energy minister Rajendra Shukla.

Sasan Power Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Power Limited. The super critical thermal power utility has completed all its six units of 660 Mw. It also includes Moher-Amlohri extension coal mine. The company had invested an amount of Rs 27,000 crore in the project and supplies power at the cheapest rate of 1.196/Kwh. Madhya Pradesh receives 1,500 Mw (1485 Mw) from the plant.