Coal news and updates

Coal concern for Monnet

Monnet Ispat and Energy is facing hurdles in getting access to coal both in India and Indonesia.

In India, its proposed 1,050MW merchant power plant at Angul in Odisha is likely to face a raw material crunch after the Supreme Court last month termed all coal block allocations between 1993 and 2010 as illegal.

Monnet was looking to source coal from the Mandakini block in Odisha. Jindal Photo and Tata Power have also been allocated the block for captive use.

Amitabh Mudgal, president — marketing and corporate affairs of Monnet Ispat and Energy — said the Angul plant, for which major power purchase agreements were in place, was supposed to add significantly to the company’s revenue.

“This plant is built based on the coal block and it is too late for such a decision to be coming,” Mudgal said on the sidelines of an event here today.

Subsidiary Monnet Power Company Ltd started work on the plant in 2009. However, delays in environment clearance and credit disbursements have pushed back the commissioning of the project.

Mudgal said the company hoped for a favourable decision on the coal block allocation as it had invested around Rs 5,000 crore in the plant.

Monnet has also been allocated other blocks in Chhattisgarh and Odisha for captive use for steel manufacturing.

One of the blocks at Chhattisgarh is among the 46 that may be spared the rod as sought by the Centre as they are either in production or are on the verge of doing so.

In Indonesia, the company is yet to start production from its mines in Sumatra. After the changes in the mining policy, the company would have to sort out issues such as taxation and retrenchment.

“There has been policy changes (in Indonesia). They are talking about domestic value addition, some increase in royalty and cess and they also want to concentrate on domestic employment. On taxation, we are having legal advice and would be opposing any steep hike,” Mudgal said.

The company’s wholly owned subsidiary Monnet Global Ltd acquired Indonesian coal company PT Sarwa Sembada Karya Bumi’s mine in Sumatra.

Source: The Telegraph