Bhopal | Dec 09, 2015: In a move causing loss of crores to state exchequer, state owned thermal power plants are purchasing high quality coal despite the fact that their plants are designed for consumption of cheap coal, thus increasing the cost of power production.
Documents with TOI show that 16 rakes of coal were purchased from South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), Bilaspur, for the Sanjay Gandhi Thermal Power Station (SGTPS) in Birsinghpur of Madhya Pradesh's Umaria district. The SECL mines in these areas produce coal, which has GCV (gross calorific value) between 5500 and 6400, which is of superior quality and is priced high. However, SGTPS is designed for consumption of coal having GCV (gross calorific value) below 4600, which is cheaper. "The average price of coal produced from the mines in Bilaspur is around Rs 3,000 per metric tonne for power utilities and the price of coal required at our plants comes between Rs 900-1,100 per metric tonne. Therefore, the difference for 64,000 metric tonne coal contained in these rakes will come to Rs 12 crore, which is a loss to state exchequer," said sources.
Interestingly, this is going on despite the fact that the Madhya Pradesh Power Generating Company Limited (MPPGCL), which operates the SGTPS, has moved a petition with the Madhya Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (MPERC) and complained that the Coal India is selling its high priced coal to SGTPS. Besides, state power minister also raised the issue with the Union government. In their petition before MPERC, they requested that the supply of high quality coal to SGTPS should be limited to 20 per cent (instead of 80 per cent), as this is leading to increase in power costs as well as wear and tear in machinery.
"We were facing coal scarcity and therefore we got high quality coal," executive director (fuel management) of MPPGCL, AK Sankule, told TOI. He said, "The petition, seeking reduction in the supply of high priced coal to SGTPS, is still in the process. However, there has been a reduction in its supply by Coal India from 80 per cent to 40 per cent." He added that they will have to purchase some high quality coal along with cheaper one.
(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)