<p>As the country doubles down on the persisting power shortage, the Centre has mandated that all power plants using imported coal to generate power at full capacity.</p>.<p>The Ministry of Power, in an order, also directed all states, and all power-generating companies using domestic coal, to import at least 10 per cent of their coal requirement for blending.</p>.<p>“The demand for power has gone up by almost 20 per cent in energy terms. The supply of domestic coal has increased, but the increase in supply is not sufficient to meet the increased demand for power. This is leading to load-shedding in different areas. Because of the mismatch between the daily consumption of coal for power generation and the daily receipt of coal at the power plant(s), the stocks of coal at the power plant(s) have been declining at a worrisome rate,” the order said.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/east-and-northeast/cci-raids-engineering-firms-after-coal-india-antitrust-complaint-1106982.html"><strong>Also read: CCI raids engineering firms after Coal India antitrust complaint</strong></a></p>.<p>International prices of coal, too, have risen in an unprecedented fashion. It is currently around $140 per tonne. As a result, import of coal for blending, which was around 37 million tonnes in 2015-16 has gone down, leading to more pressure on domestic coal, the order further stated.</p>.<p>According to the order, the power generation capacity of imported coal is around 17,600 megawatts (MW). The order stated that at the current price of imported coal, operating imported coal-based plants and supplying that power at the power purchase agreement (PPA) rates will lead to huge losses for the generators. Hence, they are unwilling to run those plants, it said.</p>.<p>“All imported coal-based power plants shall operate and generate power to their full capacity. Where the imported coal-based plant is under (the) NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal), the Resolution Professional shall take steps to make it functional,” the order remarked.</p>.<p>States have been advised that the coal prices should be a pass-through to ensure all power plants using imported coal are fully operational. Most states have done that, yet there is only 10,000 MW output out of the 17,600 MW of imported coal-based generation capacity.</p>.<p>The plants have been directed to first supply to PPA holders and sell the surplus to power exchanges. If generators own coal mines abroad, mining profit is to be set off to the extent of the company’s shareholding in the coal mines, the statement said.</p>
<p>As the country doubles down on the persisting power shortage, the Centre has mandated that all power plants using imported coal to generate power at full capacity.</p>.<p>The Ministry of Power, in an order, also directed all states, and all power-generating companies using domestic coal, to import at least 10 per cent of their coal requirement for blending.</p>.<p>“The demand for power has gone up by almost 20 per cent in energy terms. The supply of domestic coal has increased, but the increase in supply is not sufficient to meet the increased demand for power. This is leading to load-shedding in different areas. Because of the mismatch between the daily consumption of coal for power generation and the daily receipt of coal at the power plant(s), the stocks of coal at the power plant(s) have been declining at a worrisome rate,” the order said.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/east-and-northeast/cci-raids-engineering-firms-after-coal-india-antitrust-complaint-1106982.html"><strong>Also read: CCI raids engineering firms after Coal India antitrust complaint</strong></a></p>.<p>International prices of coal, too, have risen in an unprecedented fashion. It is currently around $140 per tonne. As a result, import of coal for blending, which was around 37 million tonnes in 2015-16 has gone down, leading to more pressure on domestic coal, the order further stated.</p>.<p>According to the order, the power generation capacity of imported coal is around 17,600 megawatts (MW). The order stated that at the current price of imported coal, operating imported coal-based plants and supplying that power at the power purchase agreement (PPA) rates will lead to huge losses for the generators. Hence, they are unwilling to run those plants, it said.</p>.<p>“All imported coal-based power plants shall operate and generate power to their full capacity. Where the imported coal-based plant is under (the) NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal), the Resolution Professional shall take steps to make it functional,” the order remarked.</p>.<p>States have been advised that the coal prices should be a pass-through to ensure all power plants using imported coal are fully operational. Most states have done that, yet there is only 10,000 MW output out of the 17,600 MW of imported coal-based generation capacity.</p>.<p>The plants have been directed to first supply to PPA holders and sell the surplus to power exchanges. If generators own coal mines abroad, mining profit is to be set off to the extent of the company’s shareholding in the coal mines, the statement said.</p>
