Coal India Limited has limited the supply to the non-power sector, but has not halted it as alleged by some quarters in order to meet emergency requirements for electricity plants amid a scarcity of dry fuel, a senior CIL official said on Sunday, PTI reported.
Several industrial bodies raised their concern that their production has been hampered owing to the coal crisis. Cement, aluminium and iron and steel sectors are some of the non-power consumers of coal.
“We are regulating supply to meet the sudden jump in demand of coal from the power sector but have not stopped it to non-power consumers. Our daily supplies are more than 2 lakh tonnes to non-power industries against the normal supply of around 3 lakh tonnes,” the official told PTI.
The company is fulfilling the supply target as instructed by the government to power producers. Only a little dip has come due to the Dussehra holidays, he said.
According to some reports, South Eastern Coalfields Limited ( SECL), a subsidiary of CIL, has called off its supplies to non-power consumers for a time being.
“Supplies are regulated to prioritise the power sector and more railway rakes are needed to take coal there. Non-power sector users are encouraged to take coal through roads,” the SECL official said.
Subsidiaries cannot determine on their own on regulating supply consumers.
“Regulating supply to non-power users will stop once the stock level of the critical power plants reaches seven days. The government is taking all measures to ensure that power generation is not affected with a minimum hurdle to other industries,” said the CIL official.
E-auction of coal is not taking place as it has to first meet the current demand for electricity.
Earlier, the board of Coal India was supposed to approve the Centre’s proposal to divest 10 percent of paid-up capital in the miner’s subsidiary Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Ltd (CMPDIL) and to get listed on the Indian stock markets, official sources said on Sunday.
If the proposal gets a nod by the Maharatna PSU, it will set an example to divest and list the miner’s coal-producing subsidiaries, they said.
The coal ministry, in a letter dated September 23, asked miners to try to get approval from their board for divestment of 10 per cent of paid-up capital in CMPDIL and following listing on the stock exchanges to avail the potential value of the subsidiary.