BHUBANESWAR: State-owned Odisha Coal and Power Limited (OCPL) on Tuesday signed its first-ever coal supply agreement with public sector power major NTPC Ltd for the sale of 3 million tonne (MT) of surplus coal from its Manoharpur coal mine.
The pact will help OCPL monetise excess coal production while ensuring fuel security for thermal power stations. Under the one-year agreement, NTPC will source coal for its 1,320 MW Khargone Super Thermal Power Station and 1,600 MW Gadarwara Super Thermal Power Station, both in Madhya Pradesh.
The agreement was signed in the presence of additional chief secretary (Energy) Vishal Dev at Lok Seva Bhawan here. The deal provides a ready market for surplus coal from OCPL’s Manoharpur mine in Sundargarh district, whose production capacity was doubled to 16 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) from 8 MTPA after receiving environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in February 2024.
Sources in the Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC), the majority stakeholder in OCPL, said the Ib Thermal Power Station at Banharpali requires around 8 MT of coal annually, while OCPL has targeted production of about 14 MT during 2026-27. The NTPC contract, therefore, offers a timely avenue for utilising nearly half of the surplus output. Officials said NTPC was selected on a nomination basis as the transaction is between two public sector enterprises.
Although the agreement is initially valid for one year, it may be extended depending on the fuel requirements of NTPC’s Madhya Pradesh plants.
Officials in the Energy department said the arrangement would improve domestic coal utilisation by directly supplying surplus output to large state-owned generating stations, reducing dependence on intermediaries and improving logistics efficiency.
Before this agreement, NTPC procured around 2-2.5 MT of OCPL’s coal annually through third-party traders. National Aluminium Company Ltd (NALCO) also sourced coal from OCPL on a requirement basis, while other industrial consumers and private traders lifted coal through monthly tenders.