Odisha CM seeks review of auction process

Nearly 58 industries of Odisha have a total installed captive power generation capacity of over 7,500 Mw with coal requirement of more than 50 million tonne

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has urged the Government of India to have a re-look at the process of earmarking coal mines for auction, pressing for allotment of more blocks for the unregulated sector.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Patnaik said the disproportionately high extent of earmarking coal blocks of Odisha for the power sector would not only affect the end use mineral industries of the state, but also reduce the revenue benefits to the state due to the reverse bidding procedure followed for the power sector.

"While Odisha has about a quarter of the country's coal reserves, out of the revenue of more than Rs 1 lakh crore from the coal blocks auctioned till now, the share of Odisha is expected to be less than one per cent", the letter stated.

As many as 58 industries of Odisha have a total installed captive power generation capacity of more than 7,500 Mw with an approximate coal requirement of more than 50 million tonne. Of this, 13 larger industrial units with CPPs (captive power plants) of more than 100 Mw alone account for 5,000 Mw capacity.

These industries would be at a great disadvantage due to non-earmarking of adequate number of coal blocks to meet their captive requirement, the chief minister pointed out.

Out of nine blocks of Odisha earmarked for auction so far, only one mine- Jamkhani has been earmarked for the non-regulated sector. Likewise, 10 coal blocks hae been earmarked for allotment meant only for the power sector. Revenue to the tune of Rs 83,662 crore would go to the coal bearing states from the blocks auctioned til now. While the states where the mines are located would get Rs 83,662 crore, an additional income of Rs 12,801 crore would accrue to them in the form of royalty. Of the total amount, Madhya Pradesh will get Rs 39,900 crore, Chhattisgarh Rs 26,425 crore, Jharkhand Rs 14,498 crore, West Bengal Rs 13,210 crore, Maharashtra Rs 1,819 crore and Odisha Rs 607 crore.