Tentuloi coal block to hike OTPCL's power cost by 25%

The block was recently allocated to OTPCL by Ministry of Coal

The award of Tentuloi coal block to Odisha Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (OTPCL) has not come to the rescue of the state PSU.

The block was recently allocated to OTPCL by the Ministry of Coal for OTPCL’s 2,400 Mw end-use power plant proposed at Kamakhyanagar in Dhenkanal district. But Tentuloi being an underground block, coal extraction from the block is set to push cost of power generation from this proposed plant by 25 per cent.

“Though we had sought Chandrabila coal block for OTPCL, the MoC allocated it to NTPC. The ministry awarded the Tentuloi block instead to OTPCL. Tentuloi is an underground block and coal can be excavated only after digging around 300 metres. Using coal from this block is going to raise OTPCL’s power generation cost by 25 per cent,” said an official source.

The 2,400 Mw project of OTPCL proposed at Kamakhyanagar in Dhenkanal district and taken up at a cost of Rs 10,000 crore, needs 1,969.78 acres of land in all which includes 987.77 acres of government land, 83.94 acres of forest land and 982.015 acres privately owned. OTPCL is a 50:50 joint venture between Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) and Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC).