Rail Min in touch with Coal Min, power utilities to ensure coal availability at plants

The railway ministry is maintaining close coordination with the coal ministry and other state agencies to ensure adequate availability of dry fuel at power plants, an official source said today.

The development comes at a time when Delhi is staring at electricity shortage due to the fast depleting coal stockpiles at power plants in the city.

"Close coordination is being maintained with Coal Ministry, Power Ministry, Coal India, NTPC and other power utilities to ensure adequate availability of coal at the power plants," according a railway source.

Delhi Power Minister Satyendar Jain had yesterday said in a letter to the Centre that thermal generation stations Dadri I & II, Jhajjar and Badarpur has been facing an "acute coal shortage" for many days due to non-availability of transportation rakes.

Countering this, the railway sources said that against the daily requirement of 11.5 rakes in the plants supplying power to Delhi, there has been an average daily receipt of 11.5 rakes in three plants---Dadri I & II, Jhajjar and Badarpur -- in the current month up till yesterday.

"The daily requirement of rakes in the plants supplying power to Delhi is: Dadri-6 rakes, Badarpur 1.5 rakes, Jhajjar - 4 rakes (Total-11.5 rakes). The average daily receipt of rakes in the three plants in the month of June 18 (1-27) has been as : Dadri -6.3 rakes, Badarpur 1.5 rakes, Jhajjar 3.7 rakes (total -11.5 rakes)," the source said.

The AAP government yesterday wrote to Power Minister R K Singh that Delhi was staring at a power blackout due to the fast depleting coal stockpiles at power plants in the city and had urged him to take up the issue with the Railways, which transports coal to the national capital.

This is the second time that the Delhi government has alleged that the Railways wasn't providing wagons for transportation of coal to these plants which, according to Jain, generate around 2,000 MW of power.