Coal, railway, power ministers discuss coal supply at power plants

Coal minister Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday discussed ways to improve coal stocks at thermal power plants with railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and power minister R K Singh.

The meeting comes against the backdrop of power plants grappling with coal shortages.

"Held virtual meeting with Ministers @AshwiniVaishnaw ji & @RajKSinghIndia ji, along with officers of @CoalMinistry, CMDs & officials of coal companies. We discussed improving coal stock at thermal power plants & resolved our commitment to fulfill energy demands of the country," Joshi said in a tweet.

The coal minister also reviewed the performance of Coal India arm Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL) and directed it to ramp up production and load at least 34 rakes of the dry fuel daily.

"Reviewed @NCL_SINGRAULI today, with the company CMD. Directed NCL to ramp up coal production and load at least 34 rakes per day. After this, will be visiting coal mines of NCL to interact with employees & motivate them to scale up coal excavation & dispatch," Joshi said.

Last week, Joshi said the government was making full efforts to meet the coal demand of power producers and stressed that steps were being taken to soon ramp up the dry fuel supply to 2 million tonnes per day.

The minister also felicitated machine operators at the Nigahi opencast coal project of NCL and said their role is integral for scaling up coal production and dispatch from the block.

"Flagged off a Coal Dumper Truck at Nigahi OCP, @NCL_SINGRAULI. This indigenous dumper has been manufactured by BEML and furthers #MakeInIndia initiative," he said.