Pvt power units wants SHAKTI coal auction deferred, cite liquidity crunch

In the earlier two rounds held over the last two years, around 9,389 megawatt (MW) of power capacity bid for the coal under the SHAKTI scheme

Private thermal power producers have expressed their reluctance to participate in the third round of the SHAKTI coal auction, slotted to be held next week, citing liquidity crunch. They have asked the government to return the bid security amount and processing fees paid by them.

The fresh round of auction is for those stressed power projects which have power purchase agreement (PPA) to sell power but no coal linkage. SHAKTI, or Scheme for Harnessing Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala Transparently in India, was launched in 2018 to provide coal to stressed power units which lack coal supply.

In the earlier two