Govt allocates Badam coal block to NTPC

State-run power giant NTPC has been allocated Badam coal block in Jharkhand by Ministry of Coal following the acquisition of Barauni thermal plant, an official said.

"The Ministry of Coal has transferred the Badam coal block, located in Jharkhand, to the NTPC Ltd, on September 2, 2019," a senior company official said.

The Badam coal block was earlier allocated to Bihar State Power Generation Company Ltd (BSPGCL). NTPC got the coal block after it acquired the Barauni thermal plant from the BSPGCL in December 2018.

With this coal block, NTPC currently possesses 10 coal blocks with a total estimated geological reserves of over 7.3 billion tonnes and production potential of about 113 million tonnes per annum, the official said.

The company at present has 10 coal blocks -- Pakri Barwadih, Chatti Bariatu (including Chatti Bariatu-South), Kerandari, Dulanga, Talaipalli, Bhalumuda, Banai, Mandakini-B, Badam and Banhardih (being developed by Patratu Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (PVUNL), a JV company of NTPC & state Government of Jharkhand).

The company has also made substantial progress in coal mining and about 7.31 million tonnes of coal was extracted from Pakri-Barwadih and Dulanga mines in the last financial year.

The NTPC has set a target to produce 10.4 million tonnes of coal in this financial year.

Earlier last month, NTPC had said that the government has accepted its request to surrender the Kudanali-Luburi coal block located at Odisha allotted to it jointly with Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corporation Ltd (JKSPDC) in July 2013.

The company had also said that the mine was allotted for developing 1,320 MW Bilhaur thermal power plant at Uttar Pradesh, which now is being developed as a solar plant and Power Purchase Agreement for this has been signed with Uttar Pradesh.

NTPC had incorporated a subsidiary NTPC Mining Ltd to foray into commercial coal mining. The power sector behemoth also has plans to list the coal subsidiary on stock exchanges.

The main objective of the coal mining arm will be to sell coal to others from its mines in the open market after meeting its owns requirement.