NTPC to seek clarification from SC on 3 mines

National Thermal Power Corporation today said it would seek a clarification from the Supreme Court on its recent order that cancelled the allocation of three coal mines that belonged the state-owned firm.
Of the 218 coal mines reviewed by the apex court, six blocks -- Pakri-Barwadih, Kerandari, Chatti-Bariatu and Chatti -Bariatu (south) in Jharkhand, Tallaipali in Chhattisgarh and Dulanga mines in Odisha -- belong to NTPC.
In an order on September 25, it cancelled all but four of the 218 coal blocks allocated to various companies by the government between 1993 and 2010. The four mines which were spared include NTPC's Pakri-Barwadih block.

"We will seek clarification from the Supreme Court on three mines - Kerandari, Tallaipali and Dulanga - shortly," NTPC chairman and managing director Arup Roy Choudhury told reporters here.
"The Supreme Court has cleared allocation of one mine and has given some justification for it. But we feel these justifications are applicable to these remaining mines as well. Therefore, we will approach the court to seek clarification on the cancellation of these mines," he added.
"There is indeed a coal shortage and we need to work towards increasing capacity as dependence on thermal power has gone up. As such there is no impact of the Supreme Court order on us as none of the cancelled blocks are linked to any of our projects," he said.