Coal news and updates

MoC sets up task force to review rationalisation of coal linkages

July 15: The Ministry of Coal (MoC), on June 13, 2014 constituted a new Inter-Ministerial Task Force (IMTF) to review rationalisation of linkages and to undertake an optimisation exercise, said Piyush Goyal, Minister of State for Power, Coal & New and Renewable Energy (Independent Charge).

According to an official release, the MoC constituted a similar task force in June 25, 2010 to review the existing sources and consider feasibility for rationalisation of linkages from these sources with a view to reducing the transportation costs for power, cement, steel and sponge iron sectors.

The minister stated that the recommendations of the task force were sent to Coal India Limited (CIL). While CIL and other coal companies have implemented the recommendations pertaining to rationalisation of sources for captive power plants, sponge iron and cement plants, the consumers did not agree to the revised arrangement and as a result the recommendations could not be implemented.

The consent of all the consumers were required regarding the rationalisation of sources of power utilities as the task force’s recommendations were inter-linked and could be implemented only with the consent of all the consumers. 

One of the major recommendations of the task forces was acceptance of the proposals of the functional directors of Coal India Limited in respect of rationalisation of existing sources in respect of applications received from captive power plants (8 applications received by CIL and rationalisation recommended for 7 cases), sponge iron plants (21 applications received by CIL and rationalisation recommended for 4 cases) and cement plants (2 applications received by CIL and both recommended).

Other major recommendations included:

• Rationalisation of coal supplies for the Sanjay Gandhi and Satpura thermal power plant of the Madhya Pradesh Power Generation Company Limited (MPPGCL).
• Reduction in quantity allocated to Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Limited (GSECL) from Korea Rewa fields of C and D grade coal and proportionate increase in Korba fields of South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) by swapping quantities of MPPGCL.
• Rationalisation of sources for Panipat and Rajiv Gandhi thermal power stations of Haryana Power Generation Company Limited, Mejia and Koderma thermal power stations of Damodar Valley Corporation and Santhaldih, Kolaghat, Sagardighi and Bakreshwar thermal power stations of West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited.
• Reduction in coal allocations from Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) and enhancement in coal allocations from Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) to the power plants of Tamil Nadu Electricity Board.