Power companies seek meeting with PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may meet, by this month-end, the country’s leading power producers in an attempt to address the troubles of the distressed sector, official sources said on Tuesday.

“There is no official confirmation, but this is the tentative time of the meeting,” said a source close to the development. The prime minister, he added, would be meeting with top power producers including Ratan Tata representing Tata Power, Anil Ambani (Reliance Power), Gautam Adani (Adani Power), G M Rao (GMR Infra) and Madhusudhan Rao (Lanco Infratech).

There is, still, a lack of clarity. The Association of Power Producers says it had “long ago” requested for such a meeting. “We have not yet received any confirmation on the matter,” points out Ashok Khurana, its director-general.

The proposed meeting, sources say, will address issues such as low availability of domestic coal, impact of rise in fuel costs due to change of regulation in Indonesia, weak financial health of state electricity boards and troubles related to land acquisition.

Coal diversion from captive coal mines could also be one of the issues that would come up, according to a top official from a power company.

“In addition to coal troubles, the shortfall in fuel, and its impact on the power sector would also be brought to the notice of the highest authority,” he adds. “Further, lower supply of coal and shortage in natural gas has been leading to a lot of idling power capacities.”

New projects, too, will also be a part of the discussion. The ministry of power was supposed to seek bids for three ultra mega power projects last year.

However, the bids for these 4,000-megawatt projects were delayed because of various reasons like delay in the clearance for coal blocks from the ministry of environment and forests, and other issues as well. The three projects are Cheyyur at Tamil Nadu, Sarguja in Chhattisgarh and Bedabahal in Orissa.

Land acquisition under the new mining bill is also a bone of contention among power producers that also own and develop captive coal mines. The bill, which has been tabled in the Lok Sabha, seeks companies to share profits with project-affected people. It would impact coal mining as well.

Notes a company head: “We are looking forward to some solution to this issue where land acquisition permissions would be given to coal bearing lands.”