PSPCL to save ₹750 crore per year once coal supply from J’khand mine begins

COAL SUPPLIES FROM THE PACHHWARA MINE WILL BE AVAILABLE WITHIN SIX MONTHS, BEFORE THE NEXT PADDY SEASON

PATIALA: After a delay of more than four years, the Punjab government has finalised a vendor to operate the coal mine allocated to it in Pachhwara (Jharkhand).

Adani Enterprises Ltd, a company owned by business tycoon Gautam Adani, was vying to bag the tender for operation of the coal mine, but Dilip Buildcon VPR emerged as lowest bidder with a quoted price of ₹ 840 per MT (excluding taxes) through transparent & competitive reverse bidding process. The letter of award (LOA) has been issued to Dilip Buildcon-VPR by the PSPCL, confirmed an official.

PSPCL director (generation) SK Puri said with the operation of the coal mine, PSPCL is expected to save ₹750 crore per annum. The coal supplies from the captive mine shall result in reduction of cost to the tune of about ₹600 crore per annum vis-à-vis the same quantity of coal being procured from Coal India Limited (CIL). The PSPCL has been authorised to extract 7 million tonne of coal per year from Pachhwara mine.

Further, the coal from Pachhwara mine is better in calorific value than the what is being procured from the CIL, which will mean savings of another ₹150 crore to the PSPCL. So, the PSPCL will be saving about ₹750 crore every year once the captive mine becomes operational.

The Pachhwara (central) coal mine was allotted to PSEB (now PSPCL) in December 2001 and it was being operated by PANEM since 2006 and about 7 million tonne coal was coming from it to Punjab thermal plants every year. However, the mine was cancelled by the Supreme Court of India on August 25, 2014, as a result, coal supplies from this mine to Punjab were stopped on March 31, 2015. Since then Punjab had been buying coal from the CIL at a higher cost.

Pachhwara (central) coal mine was re-allotted to the PSPCL by the Ministry of Coal on March 31, 2015, but the agency failed to finalise a vendor to operate it. After forming the government, chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh asked the PSPCL to finalise the vendor at the earliest to cut costs.

“It is expected that the coal supplies from Pachhwara mine will be available within six months, much before the next paddy season, which will help in meeting the day-to-day coal requirements and maintaining adequate coal stock in state’s thermal plants,” said Puri.