Bhubaneswar | March 17, 2016: Coal Ministry has allocated the Baitarani West coal block to Odisha for commercial mining. Baitarani block is one of the 16 coal blocks earmarked for state PSUs by the ministry under Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015.
"The coal block has not been allocated to any specific state PSU. But it is meant for commercial mining. In that case, we have to make a separate and revised application for allocation of a coal block to Odisha Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (OTPCL)," said state energy minister Pranab Prakash Das.
The state government had sought the Baitarani coal block for OTPCL to cater to its 2,400 Mw coal-fired power plant coming up at Kamakhyanagar in Dhenkanal district.
"Now, the state government has the discretion to set aside the Baitarani West coal block for any of its PSUs. The coal block may go either to Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) or Odisha Coal & Power Ltd (OCPL), a 51:49 joint venture (JV) between OPGC and another state entity Odisha Hydro Power Generation Corporation (OHPC)", said an official source.
Earlier, the state government has asked for allocation of a commercial coal block to OMC to facilitate sale of coal to non-regulated sectors.
There are 56 captive power plants (CPPs) of iron and steel and aluminium industries in the state with installed capacity of more than 6,310 Mw.
Besides, the annual requirement of coal for sponge iron units alone excluding the CPPs is estimated to be at least 30 million tonne per annum. The coal requirement of these end use industries is only expected to increase in the coming years with their expansion and commencement of production by more units.
In the absence of adequate allocation of coal blocks for the unregulated sector, these units have to depend on other states for their requirement, resulting in wasteful, criss-cross movement over long distances besides affecting their economic viability. It would also deprive the state of its due share in revenue generated from auction of coal blocks.
(Source: http://www.business-standard.com/)