BHUBANESWAR: Even as the country passes through a severe coal crisis impacting thermal power production, the Odisha Coal and Power Limited (OCPL) has maintained a continuous production and supply of coal to captive power plants of Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC).
The State-run entity continues to supply around 20,000 tonnes of coal to OPGC on a daily basis and the surplus to Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL).
Till October 1, around 17 lakh tonne of coal has been supplied by OCPL to OPGC while another 8 lakh tonne has been dispatched to MCL, a release claimed. Despite the pandemic and subsequent lockdown, the OCPL coal mine, one of the couple of captive mines in the country, has registered more than 150 per cent growth over last year.
This has prompted power giants like NTPC to approach the state government for long-term coal supply tie-up with OCPL while Ministry of Coal has requested Odisha to contribute more than its target to help and mitigate the coal crisis in the country, an official spokesperson said.
A team from Ministry of Coal which visited OCPL and nearby coal mines recently expressed its happiness on project work and commitment of employees to achieve the efficiency parameters as decided by it.
While severe shortage of coal supply has hit the country hard and started impacting power generation in many states including Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi and Tamil Nadu, OCPL sources said the company has been able to keep its commitment to the State by operating a sustainable coal mine and supply of coal at reasonable price to OPGC for power generation and benefit of electricity consumers.