Nagpur | Jun 20, 2016: Government owned mining company Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) wants to do away with human interface in coal supply process which has often drawn flak for malpractices. Coal supplies could be soon booked through a mobile app developed in-house by the public sector undertaking. The formal launch will be in a week or 10 days. Before that road shows are being held at different cities to create awareness about the app.
The company had new recruitments in large numbers in the last 4-5 years. Now it is focusing on tapping the potential of these young officers who have contributed in making the app, said a senior official in the company.
The app will completely do away with any interaction with WCL officials for booking the quota of coal. The app can be used by all kinds of consumers, from a state-owned power utility to a small-scale industry. Information about the grade of coal and the location of mines will be made available through the app, helping the consumer to chose the source of supply.
At present, the company goes by the system of personal inquiries at the sales department about availability of coal and also the position in respective mines. This leaves scope for corruption as consumers compete to get the best grade. Now, the app will have all the details. Even the payments will be made through the app, said the source in WCL.
Lately, WCL has taken measures to ease the procedures for consumers. This comes at a time when the company has a surplus production of coal. Even as WCL had scaled up its production there was no matching demand from the industry, especially power sector. With this the company is now left with eight million tonnes of coal to be lifted from the mines. As against 44.8 tonnes of coal extracted during the last year, WCL is now moving towards 48 million tonnes.
The company recently cut down the premium it charged on the coal available for e-auction. A part of coal stock is also available through competitive bidding. For that the base price was fixed at 20% above the notified rates. Now, the mark up of 20% has been removed.
WCL is also facing tough times on the financial front as recoveries form the Madhya Pradesh Power Generation Company are overdue. The company has taken up the matter with Madhya Pradesh government which may have to raise debt for clearing WCL's dues, said a source.
(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)