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1-year report card: Strong start but Goyal has work cut out

It has been a trial by fire for coal and power minister Piyush Goyal. In the past one year, Goyal has successfully conducted India's first auction of coal blocks averting a crisis. He has also pushed Coal India to ramp up production to a historic high and bettered the target of power generation. While the start has been strong, Goyal will have to walk the mile to achieve the government’s target of 24x7 power for every home by 2019, say CNBC-TV18’s Anshu Sharma and Shereen Bhan. Goyal and his team have spent the past 12 months burning the midnight oil. With the Supreme Court order cancelling the coal block allocations going back almost two decades, Goyal was tasked with ensuring continuity of production to avert a coal and power crisis. The government pushed ahead with coal reforms via an ordinance paving the way for the country's first coal block auction. In the first phase, 29 coal mines have been auctioned, and 38 allotted to government companies giving the government an opportunity to crow about the benefits to coal bearing states. Proceeds from the auction, at about Rs 4.04 lakh crore, have eclipsed the CAG’s controversial Rs 1.86 lakh crore loss estimate. The auctions have had a fair share of drama forcing bidders like JSPL to move court against the government's decision to reject its bids. Auctions apart, Goyal has also pushed big boy Coal India to ramp up production to 495 million tonne, that is 8 percent higher than FY14, and the highest ever for the company. Coal India is now targeting a billion tonne of coal production by FY20. In his role as power minister, Goyal has overseen generation of an additional 22,566 megawatt against a target of 17,830 MW. Energy deficit has come down to an all time low of 3.6 percent. While, on the transmission side, the power minister has promised competitive bidding for projects worth Rs 1 lakh crore in the next six months. While things have improved for both coal supply and generation, the distribution companies owned by states are still reeling under financial stress despite being put on a restructuring plan. The logjam on setting up new ultra mega power projects (UMPPs) continues with the recent setback being R Power walking out of the proposed Tillaiya project. The government is yet to release a redefined bid document for UMPPs. Goyal has also helped alleviate some of the pain facing gas supply by bringing in reverse bidding for gas, to kickstart stranded power plants. It may be a good start but Goyal has his work cut out for him as he sets about trying to fulfill his promise of lighting up every home 24x7 by 2019.

source: http://www.moneycontrol.com