Haryana allocated large coal block for first time

The Haryana Power Generation Corporation Ltd (HPGCL) and the Delhi government have been allocated a big coal block for the first time by the Centre.

The coal block would be Mara-II, Mahan, located in Madhya Pradesh. Earlier, Haryana used to buy coal for power generation from central PSUs like Coal India Ltd. So this allocation is likely to bring down the unit cost of generation of electricity.

HPGCL Managing Director Jyoti Arora said here today that the power-generating companies were authorised to undertake coal mining for their projects. In view of present and future requirements, HPGCL had requested the Centre to allocate a coal block for the state.

She added that the production of coal was likely to take about 48 to 54 months. She said: "The state needed 8.5 mt of coal every year for Faridabad and Panipat thermal power stations. With the synchronisation of two units of 300 Mw each at Thermal Yamuna Nagar, there would be an increase in demand of coal by 3 mt per annum. Also, HPGCL had speedily started the process of setting up another 1,000/1,200 Mw coal-based thermal power project at Hisar for which the annual requirement of coal would be 5.83 MT. In all, the coal requirement for all these projects would be 17.33 mt every year."

Arora said coal was the major input for the generation of each unit of electricity and this expenditure was likely to bring down the per unit cost of generation of power. There would also be a substantial improvement in the quality of coal after completion of the project.

When asked about per unit cost, she said everything was at a preliminary stage. Commenting upon mining, she said, "We are open for a joint venture with Delhi as well as alone. Things are yet to be worked out. In case technical division of the block is possible, we can do it alone by inviting private players through tenders."

The Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Ltd would carry out the exploration of the coal block.