HYDERABAD: Amid a surge in national power demand, Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) has turned down requests for large coal shipments from several states, including Tamil Nadu’s demand for two million tonnes, to keep Telangana’s thermal power stations fully stocked.
In a release, SCCL said nearly 90% of its coal supplies to power utilities were going to generating stations in Telangana. In August, it supplied 40.51 lakh tonnes nationwide, including 36.26 lakh tonnes to Telangana plants.
The company supplied an average 1.31 lakh tonnes a day to thermal stations, including nearly 1.17 lakh tonnes to Telangana. It said several utilities had sought additional supplies amid rising demand, but it was prioritising Telangana over commercial opportunities elsewhere.
During August, SCCL supplied 20.16 lakh tonnes to TGGENCO through 382 railway rakes. Kothagudem Thermal Power Station received 6.99 lakh tonnes through 179 rakes and Yadadri Thermal Power Station 7.99 lakh tonnes through 203 rakes. Kakatiya Thermal Power Plant received 1.03 lakh tonnes and Bhadradri 4.15 lakh tonnes.
SCCL also supplied 7.28 lakh tonnes to Ramagundam NTPC plants, 4.16 lakh tonnes to NTPC Telangana and 4.66 lakh tonnes to its thermal power plant at Jaipur.
Utilities seeking additional supplies included Damodar Valley Corporation in West Bengal (one million tonnes), NTECL’s Durgapur plant (1.2 million tonnes), NSPCL-Jhajjar (one million tonnes) and NTECL in Tamil Nadu (two million tonnes).
Coal from SCCL’s Naini mine in Odisha is also being transported to Telangana. The company has supplied one rake each to its thermal plant and Yadadri. About 15 lakh tonnes of coal is ready for extraction at Naini, but restrictions allowing transport to the railway siding only at night have limited dispatches.
SCCL chairman and managing director Buddha Prakash Jyothi has appointed five special officers to oversee production and transportation.