Power crisis: PSPCL to spend ₹800 crore for importing coal
PATIALA: The Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) will have to bear expenses worth ₹ 800 crore for importing coal to meet the deficit to run all the power plants in the state ahead of the paddy sowing season, putting an extra financial burden on the cash-strapped power company.
In the absence of sufficient domestic coal, the Centre has directed the state power generation companies to import 10% of its total coal requirement from outside India. For Punjab, it is 6 lakh tonne of coal that can be imported and for that, the PSPCL will have to bear an extra expenditure of about ₹ 800 crore.
Punjab, which is located almost 1,500 kilometres away from the coal mines, is facing coal shortage as 4 out of its five coal plants have coal stock of less than 10 days. With the onset of the paddy sowing season from June 20, there is a need to run all power plants of Punjab, to meet the power demand, which is likely to remain around 15,000 MW. The PSPCL has already floated the tender to import coal. The cost of Indonesian coal is around USD 200 per tonne (approx ₹ 15,000 per tonne).
In addition to this, the transportation charges of ₹ 3,300 per tonne from the seaport in Gujarat to thermal plants of Punjab will be extra. The minimum cost difference between domestic and imported coal would be about ₹ 13,500 per tonne.
At present, the landed cost of coal in thermal plants of Punjab and Haryana is around ₹ 5,500 per tonne. However, the foreign coal is of high calorific value and
IN THE ABSENCE OF SUFFICIENT DOMESTIC COAL, THE CENTRE HAS DIRECTED THE STATE POWER GENERATION COMPANIES TO IMPORT 10% OF ITS TOTAL COAL REQUIREMENT FROM OUTSIDE INDIA
can be used as blending the Indian coal for increasing its efficiency.
The PSPCL has been from the last one year urging the Centre to increase coal supplies. There is shortage of coal in the majority of thermal plants of India.
Centre should compensate states for importing coal- AIPEF
The All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) has demanded that the Centre should compensate each and every state that is being forced to import coal in the absence of adequate domestic coal.
In the absence of any financial help to buy coal from abroad, the financial condition of the utilities will deteriorate further.
V K Gupta, spokesperson AIPEF, said that the federation has written a letter to Union power minister R K Singh on Friday that forcing the states to go for imported coal due to the shortage of domestic coal to bridge the coal supply-demand gap, created through sheer mismanagement and lack of anticipation and planning, is not appreciable.
He said that due to import of coal, Punjab will have to bear an extra expenditure of about ₹ 800 crore if it imports the complete its 6-lakh tonne target. In the case of Haryana, this amount will be ₹ 1,200 crore for a 9-lakh tonne target. In the case of other states, where targets are much bigger, the financial implications will be more.
AIPEF asked the Centre to bear the expenses of coal import, otherwise it will burden the consumers.