BHUBANESWAR: A week after Coal India issued a notice to curtail coal supply to non-power sector, both via rail and road modes, industry bodies in Odisha have sought the intervention of the Centre and State government to resolve the continued coal crisis and resume supplies for survival of highly power-intensive industries.
Flagging concern over the impact on captive power plant (CPP)-based industries, the Utkal Chamber of Commerce and Industries (UCCI) Ltd stated that Coal India’s notice to curtail the coal supplies will be highly detrimental to the non-power sector.
“This new adhoc decision without any advance notice has brought the industry to a standstill, which is left with no time to devise any mitigation plan to continue sustainable operations,” UCCI president Brahma Mishra said.
While the power situation has improved significantly as most of the available rakes are being diverted to the power sector as ‘priority coal supplies’ with nine to 10 days’ stocks, he said, the CPPs of highly power-intensive aluminium industry continue to struggle for uninterrupted coal supplies and face alarmingly depleted stock of three to four days against the prescribed level of over 15 days.
“The coal supply to non-power sector has significantly declined by 12 per cent (from 61 MMT to 58 MMT) and the supply to power sector has increased by 11 pc (from 248 MMT to 305 MMT) during September-February period in the current financial year,” Mishra pointed out.
Coal supplies for non-power sector have been further curtailed from 3.6 lakh tonne per day (LTPD) to 2.75 LTPD, which will further widen the demand-supply gap and create huge coal deficit for the industry, he stated.
In a letter to Union Minister for Mines Pralhad Joshi and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the UCCI has requested to take immediate steps to normalise the coal situation by earmarking at least 25 to 30 coal rakes per day and also enhancing supplies through road mode for economically viable and sustainable industry operations.
“With revival of economy and post pandemic industrial activity, CPP based industries are highly dependent on uninterrupted coal supplies. Any production curtailment by the sector will have cascading effect on consumption and downstream supply chain, resulting in increased prices of finished products and burden on end consumers, thereby adversely impacting the nation’s GDP growth,” Mishra added.