Captive power plants in Odisha in trouble over acute shortage of coal

Total need of Odisha is 80 million tonnes, of which captive power producers need only 40 million tonnes for the consumption

Captive power plants (CPPs) in Odisha are in a bind over acute shortage of coal which is affecting their operations.

Major coal-based industries which are facing a shortage of coal in the state are Vedanta, JSL, Hindalco, JK Paper and Facor Power.

These industries are dependent on Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), a subsidiary of Coal India (CIL), for their coal requirement to run their CPPs.

Of the total, 40 million tonnes (MT) coal requirement by CPPs, supply by MCL stands as low as 15 MT forcing the companies operating in varied sectors either run their power plants by importing coal