Odisha seeks allocation of two coal blocks for OTPCL

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has written to the central government, requesting replacement of the coal block at Tentuloi with those at Chhendipada for the 2,400 MW power plant at Kamakhyanagar in Dhenkanal district.

"The cost of extracting coal from the deep cast mine (at Tentuloi) will be prohibitively high for which the Ministry of Coal has been requested several times for cancelation of the same," said Patnaik in his letter to union Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal, made public on Sunday.

Instead, Chhendipada and Chhendipada-II coal blocks would be far more economical for Odisha Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (OTPCL), the state PSU setting up the thermal power plant, to produce electricity, the chief minister said.

"Allocation of these coal blocks to OTPCL will help in making available power at a cheap rate for the consumers of Odisha."

Tentuloi coal block also fell short of OTPCL's requirement of 16 million tonnes of coal, while Chhendipada would supply the need well, the chief minister said.

OTPCL is a joint venture between Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) and Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC)