Coal news and updates

A division bench of the High Court of Karnataka has paved the way for the speedy supply of coal to Karnataka's thermal plants by disposing of three appeal cases fought between the state-owned Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) and two private companies. The division bench modified an order of a single-judge bench in the process. The 'coal scam' that hit the nation a few years ago had created a situation where KPCL and the private company supplying it coal for power generation could not agree on a common ground to continue the arrangement. This had affected thermal power production in Karnataka.

 

The Union government had allotted six coal mines located in Maharashtra to KPCL for captive consumption of coal in its thermal plants in Karnataka in 2003. The coal from these mines were to be used only for this purpose. KPCL and a private company, EMTA, formed a joint venture company, Karnataka Emta Mining Company Ltd (KEMCL), to extract and supply the coal exclusively to KPCL. Subsequent agreements involving various government agencies and the private company provided for supplying 5 million tonnes of coal per year for 25 years. EMTA and KEMCL spent Rs 634 crore and the mines became operational in 2008.