CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene to ensure adequate supply of coal to Tamil Nadu. In a letter to the PM, Stalin said sufficient coal supply from Talcher mines in Odisha is vital for unhindered power generation in TN.
“I have been informed that though coal production is sufficient to meet summer power demand, it is not getting transported to ports due to short supply of railway rakes. This resulted in coal stocks of our generation plants dropping to critical levels,” he added.
For Tangedco, 22 rakes a day were required to move 72,000MTs of coal to Paradip and Vishakhapatnam ports. But, on an average, it gets only 14 rakes.
Due to shortage of domestic coal, Tangedco has to import coal at higher prices. The demand gap is also being filled by buying power at energy exchanges, but power is not available in energy exchanges too, the letter said.