AIPEF demands probe into coal shortage, black marketing by pvt operators
LUCKNOW: The All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) on Tuesday demanded that a meeting of the Forum of Regulators be held immediately to stop black marketing of power in energy exchange, mostly by private operators, during the crisis.
It has also demanded a constitution of an expert committee to fix responsibility for the coal crisis and to evolve ways and means to avoid such crises in the future.
AIPEF chairman Shailendra Dubey in a letter to Union Power Minister RK Singh urged that the subject of putting a cap on profiteering by independent private producers (IPPs) might be discussed and finalised in the Forum of Regulators in the letter and spirit of sec 62(1)A of Electricity Act 2003, immediately, on priority to stop black marketing, mostly by private companies, in the energy exchange during a crisis. “Since coal shortage is the major factor causing a hike in power rates, the power ministry must stress the need for ending future coal shortages otherwise results of 2021 will be repeated,” Dubey said in the letter.
Referring to a 2016 interview of then coal secretary Anil Swaroop in which the officer stated that he had finalised an action plan over the next five years for meeting coal shortages, Dubey said the plan was never implemented. “Now, it is up to the enduser, i.e. the ministry of power,
to take up the issue of coal shortages with the concerning ministries so that the crisis of 2021 does not repeat,” he suggested.
The AIPEF also demanded that one expert committee comprising a member from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) should be constituted immediately to inquire into the coal shortage so that the reason for the power crisis was technically analysed and accordingly stern action is taken against those responsible.
Dubey, in his letter, expressed concern over the closure of ultra-mega power plants of Tata and Adani at Mundra, which he said, were run by imported coal and had nothing to do with the present coal crisis in the country. He also blamed heavy backing down of power in the private Rosa, Lalitpur and Bara thermal plants which added to the power crisis in UP.