Govt asks Reliance Power to restrict Sasan coal output

Asks company to bring down production from 20 MTPA to 16 MTPA

The government has asked Reliance Power to restrict production from its coal mines in Moher and Moher Amlohri Extension blocks - linked to its Sasan ultra mega power project (UMPP) - to 16 million tonne per annum (MTPA) from the current 20 MTPA.

"It has been decided that Sasan Power is required to revise the mining plan of Moher and Moher Amlohri Extension coal blocks from the present 20 MTPA mine capacity to 16 MTPA so as to conform to the coal requirement of Sasan UMPP, it being a specified end-use plant," the Coal Ministry said in a letter.

The company declined to comment on the letter.

The government last month had taken away one of the the three coal blocks allocated to Reliance Power's Sasan project in Madhya Pradesh. The Supreme Court had scrapped allocations of 204 coal blocks last year.

In March, Reliance Power said its 3,960-MW Sasan thermal power project had been fully commissioned.

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Power has already announced termination of the contract for Rs 36,000-crore Tilaiya UMPP in Jharkhand over "inordinate delays" in land acquisition.