Coal news and updates

APP hails joint allocation of coal, power under Goyal

June 24: The Association of Power Producers (APP), representing India’s leading private power generators, has hailed the joint allocation of coal and power under the same minister, Piyush Goyal, terming it as “the finest decision” the NDA government could take to address crucial bottlenecks facing the energy sector.

“This is the finest decision. The joint allocation will help address issues in both coal and power sectors quickly and effectively,” APP Director General Ashok Khurana told ICMW.
Asked if the interest of power producers would overrule the coal sector under the new regime, Khurana said, “About 80 percent of coal produced is consumed by the power sector. If not for power, what is coal meant for?”

He further added, “Both coal and power are meant to serve the national interest. Hence, a coordinated approach is the need of the hour.”

The members of the association, including industry captains such as Anil Ambani and Gautam Adani and Naveen Jindal, met Goyal on Friday to discuss bottlenecks being faced by its members.

Issues that were discussed included compensatory tariff hike, transmission bottlenecks, domestic coal shortage and clearance hurdles, among others.