RAIPUR: With the country staring a power crisis triggered by short supply of coal at a time when the mercury is breaking all records, it’s time for Coal India to face the heat. The Chhattisgarh- based South Eastern Coalfield Limited (SECL), an undertaking of Coal India Limited (CIL), is being pushed to substantially enhance its daily output urgently.
The daily production and supply by the SECL has increased by 1.25 lakh tonnes and now stands at 4.50 lakh tonnes. SECL claimed that it has 16 million tonnes of coal available at the reserve stock for its customers. CIL, which is the country’s largest coal producer and supplier, had earlier claimed that it had raised its supplies to coal-fired thermal power stations by 14.2% during the first half of April this year compared to the same period last April.
The PSU had ramped up its production to 26.4 MT during the first half of April, registering a year-on-year growth of 27%. However, with April this year witnessing an unprecedented heat wave across India, power demands, too, have surged to record levels and the reserve stocks at thermal stations in states are fast depleting. On Friday, the railway ministry took the extraordinary step of cancelling over 700 passenger trains so as to expedite the movement of coal wagons to thermal plants.
“We are now sending a minimum of 45 rakes loaded with coal per day to mitigate the demand crisis. And this year, the SECL has been assigned a new annual target of 182 million tons, which is going to be highest by any Coal India subsidiary in the country,” Sanish Chandra, public relation officer of SECL, said.
Besides Chhattisgarh, SECL supplies coal to power plants in Madhya Pradesh, Ut tar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. CIL Chairman Pramod Agrawal on Saturday arrived at SECL headquarters at Bilaspur to review the issues related to production and dispatch of coal. “With better planning and quick decision capacity, we can enhance our work production to meet the exceptions of the country,” Agrawal said.
STATE-RUN POWER GENCOS OWE Rs 6,477.5 CRORE TO COAL INDIA LTD
Rs 2,608.07 crore MAHARASHTRA
Rs 1,066.40 crore WEST BENGAL
Rs 1,018.22 crore JHARKHAND
Rs 823.92 crore TAMIL NADU
Rs 531.42 crore MADHYA PRADESH
Rs 429.47 crore RAJASTHAN