NEW DELHI: As coal minister Pralhad Joshi claimed there was no shortage of coal in the county, industry experts on Tuesday requested the government not to coerce state power generators or independent power producers (IPPs) to import 10% coal for blending purposes on inflated rates.
Following the statement of the minister in parliament on July 25, 2022, the experts said the power ministry should revoke and withdraw the order for the import of 10% of their coal requirement. “All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) has sent a letter today to Prime Minister urging him to intervene and issue effective directions to Ministry of Power to immediately withdraw the instructions given to state Gencos to import 10 % of coal in the light of reply given by Prahlad Joshi in Rajya Sabha on July 25, 2022, that there is no shortage of coal and production of coal is 31% more as compared to last year,” said Shailendra Dubey Chairman of AIPEF.
The extra cost of imported coal, the federation said, must be borne by the power ministry now. As the country faced a power crisis due to a coal shortage in peak summer, the ministry, in an official order, asked state Gencos and IIPs to import 10% of coal for blending.
The ministry further stated if blending with domestic coal is not started by June 15, 2022, then the domestic allocation of the defaulter thermal power plants will be further cut by 5%. However, the Joshi in parliament said in the current financial year (up to June 22), India has produced 204.876 MT of coal as against 156.11 MT during the same period of last year.