Coal heap

In order to bridge the shortfall in indigenous coal availability, power utilities have been advised to import 35 million tonnes of coal, minister of state for power Bharatsinh Solanki informed the Rajya Sabha. The total dry fuel required for plants using indigenous coal is 440 million tonnes and for the ones using imported coal is 12 million tonnes.

“In addition, 12 million tonnes coal is also required to be imported during the current fiscal to meet the requirement of power projects designed on imported coal,” Solanki said. The country’s largest power generator National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC), which has a total coal requirement of about 145-150 million tonnes would import 14 million tonnes. State-run Coal India would also import four million tonnes of coal for NTPC during the fiscal. Meanwhile, the coal ministry has allocated 97 captive coal blocks for power projects of state and central utilities and independent power producers.

Also Read

• NTPC issues Rs 3,500 crore worth coal tender
• Deallocated mines won’t be taken away: Power Ministry
• NTPC plans long-term supply contract of imported coal
• Coal India to set up thermal power plant to take care of inventories
• NTPC floats tender for importing 4 mt of coal