Uncertainty Preventing Investments in Hydel Projects: Power Minister Piyush Goyal

[Hindustani78]

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)
22-February, 2017 13:44 IST
Cabinet approves enhancement of capacity from 20,000 MW to 40,000 MW of the Scheme for Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today approved the enhancement of capacity from 20,000 MW to 40,000 MW of the Scheme for Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects. The enhanced capacity would ensure setting up of at least 50 solar parks each with a capacity of 500 MW and above in various parts of the country. Smaller parks in Himalayan and other hilly States where contiguous land may be difficult to acquire in view of the difficult terrain, will also be considered under the scheme. The capacity of the solar park scheme has been enhanced after considering the demand for additional solar parks from the States.

The Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects will be set up by 2019-20 with Central Government financial support of Rs.8100 crore. The total capacity when operational will generate 64 billion units of electricity per year which will lead to abatement of around 55 million tonnes of CO2 per year over its life cycle.

It would also contribute to long term energy security of the country and promote ecologically sustainable growth by reduction in carbon emissions and carbon footprint, as well as generate large direct & indirect employment opportunities in solar and allied industries like glass, metals, heavy industrial equipment etc. The solar parks will also provide productive use of abundant uncultivable lands which in turn facilitate development of the surrounding areas.

All the States and UTs are eligible for benefits under the scheme. The State Government will first nominate the Solar Power Park Developer (SPPD) and also identify the land for the proposed solar park. It will then send a proposal to MNRE for approval along with the name of the SPPD. The SPPD will then be sanctioned a grant of upto Rs.25 Lakh for preparing a Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the Solar Park. Thereafter, Central Financial Assistance (CFA) of up to Rs. 20 lakhs/MW or 30 percent of the project cost including Grid-connectivity cost, whichever is lower, will be released as per the milestones prescribed in the scheme. Solar Energy Corporation India (SECI) will administer the scheme under the direction of MNRE. The approved grant will be released by SECI.

The solar parks will be developed in collaboration with State Governments/UTs. The State Governments/UTs are required to select the SPPD for developing and maintaining the solar parks.

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is already implementing a scheme for development of at least 25 solar parks with an aggregate capacity of 20,000 MW, which was launched in December 2014. As on date, 34 solar parks of aggregate capacity 20,000 MW have been approved which are at various stages of development.

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[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...hieves-95-PLF-in-February/article17384571.ece

The Singareni Thermal Power Plant in Adilabad district

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...hieves-95-PLF-in-February/article17384571.ece

One unit records 100% plant load factor

The thermal power plant of Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) near Jaipur in Adilabad district has achieved a plant load factor (PLF) of 95% for the month of February with second of the two units achieving a record of 100% PLF within a couple of months of commercial operation declaration.

According to the officials of the power plant, the first unit of the 2x600 MW plant has achieved 90% PLF. The average 95% PLF achieved by Singareni power plant was high among all thermal power projects belonging to TS-Genco, AP-Genco and NTPC. The officials said that the first unit was declared commercially operational in September last year, the second unit became commercially operational in December.

Chairman and Managing Director of SCCL N. Sridhar said the project was commissioned very fast and he complimented the employees and officials of the power plant for achieving the milestone in a matter of a few months.

It was on the directions of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao that the power plant was completed and commissioned in the shortest possible time as work on the project was progressing relatively slow when Telangana came into being. Work on the project was speeded up to meet the demand for power in the State, he noted.

The two units of the power plant had supplied 3,191 million units (MU) of energy to the power utilities in the State with the first unit generating 2,157 MU and the second unit adding another 1,286 MU. However, 2,000 MU from the first unit and 1,191 MU from the second unit was only synchronised with the grid. A total of 3,443 MU was generated, including the energy that was not synchronised.

In February, the first unit generated 348 MU and the second unit 389 MU but 324 MU and 364 MU, respectively, (total of 688 MU) was supplied to the power grid at Gajwel, the Singareni officials stated.

 

[Hindustani78]

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)
06-March, 2017 20:52 IST
Cabinet approves Revised Cost Estimate-I of Koteshwar Hydro Electric Project in Uttarakhand

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the Revised Cost Estimate-I of 400 MW Koteshwar Hydro Electric Project (HEP) in Uttarakhand at an estimated completion cost of Rs.2,717.35 crore.

The project is being implemented by Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC) India Limited.

In addition to additional generating capacity of 400 MW of peaking power it will regulate releases from Tehri Reservoir for irrigation and drinking water supply. The reservoir of Koteshwar HEP will also act as lower reservoir for under construction Tehri PSP (1000 MW).

Background:

The Project has already been commissioned fully in March, 2012. Only balance works are to be done which are not linked with operation of the Plant but essential for safety and completion of the project.

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[Hindustani78]

A file photo of Yermarus Thermal Power Station on the outskirts of Raichur.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...for-commercial-generation/article17430417.ece

800-MW unit will begin generation after getting coal linkage, completion of other works

The first generating unit of the newly set up Yermarus Thermal Power Station (YTPS) on Wednesday achieved a milestone by being ready to commence commercial operation. The unit with a capacity of 800 MW will begin generation as soon as the station gets coal linkage.

The power station requires 22,000 tonnes of coal a day. Officials are making efforts to get coal allocation at the earliest. Remaining infrastructure such as ash-handling facility and railway siding would also have to be established before the unit could begin commercial generation.

The readiness for commercial operation was announced after the first unit generated at a capacity of 813.2 MW for 72 hours from 10.56 p.m. on March 4 to 10.56 p.m. on March 7 as part of various tests involved in the process.

The YTPS, which has come up on 1,126 acres of land on the outskirts of Raichur, has used supercritical technology which not only increases the operational efficiency but also reduces heat rate. G. Kumar Naik, managing director, Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd., told reporters that this was the third power station in the country after Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh stations that had adopted such a technology.


Mr. Naik, while congratulating the officials who worked on the project, said the second unit with 800 MW capacity would also begin commercial generation at the earliest.

The high-tech machinery used at the station would increase the operational efficiency by 9%, he said. He said the heat rate of the machines was below 8% compared with other units. The coal consumption would automatically get reduced if the heat rate was low, he added. As many 320 men are required to generate 800 MW of power every day.

Mr. Naik said suitable employment was being provided to those who had lost their land for the power station. Of the 259 land-losers, 142 had applied for jobs. Of them, 78 applicants had been offered jobs and the remaining applications were under verification, he added.

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Coal
09-March, 2017 15:13 IST
Thermal Power Plants have Coal Stocksof 26.15 MT, equivalent to 17 days’ requirement

No Shortage of Coal with Power Plants: Shri Piyush Goyal

Minister of State (I/C) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines, Shri Piyush Goyal, while giving a written reply to a question on demand and supply of coal in the country in Lok Sabha today, said that there is no difficulty to meet the demand of coal across the country. The coal stock with Thermal Power Plants (TPPs),as on 28.02.2017, was 26.15 MT (equivalent to 17days’ requirement). Further, the vendible stock with Coal India Limited (CIL) as on 28.02.2017 was 54.85 MT, the Minister informed.

Shri Goyal further informed that important steps have been taken by the Government to increase the domestic production. These include efforts to expedite environment clearances &forest clearances, pursuing with State Governments for assistance in land acquisition and coordinated effort with Railways for movement of coal. A roadmap has been prepared by CILto substantially enhance production of coal by 2019-20. This includes capacity addition from new projects, use of mass production technologies and identification of existing on-going projects with growth potential. As a result, all India coal production has increased from 565.77 MT in 2013-14 to 639.24 MT (Prov.) in 2015-16.

The Minister also said that awell-established mechanism is in place in all subsidiaries ofCIL for monitoring the production of coal in coal mines and the quantity of coal supplied therefrom. Further, performance of coal production by the subsidiaries of CIL is being reviewed in the Ministry. To review performance of subsidiaries, a meeting of CMDs’ of subsidiaries is held at CIL every month. The performance is also being reviewed in the meeting of Board of Directors of the subsidiaries.


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Ministry of Power
09-March, 2017 15:12 IST
57 Inter Regional Power Transmission projects worth Rs.7,268 crores sanctioned under the Power System Development Fund (PSDF) scheme

Total Inter Regional Transmission Capacity stands at 63,650 MW: Shri Piyush Goyal

Union Minister of State (I/C)for Power,Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines, Shri Piyush Goyal, in a written reply in Lok Sabha today informed that Inter Regional Transmission Corridors (IRTC) are planned and implemented for transfer of power from surplus states/regions to deficitstates/regions on short term basis, subject to availability of margins in theselines.These lines,a part of the evacuation system from interstate generation stations,are mainly used for delivery of powerfrom these generating stations to their beneficiaries in various states.

Shri Goyal further informed that a number of inter-regional links have been planned whichinterconnect the five regional grids i.e. Northern, Western, Southern, Eastern andNorth Eastern regions. Presently, the total transmission capacity of such interregionallinks is 63650 MW (as on January, 2017), he said.

The Minister also informed that as of now, 57 projects have been sanctioned under the Power System Development Fund (PSDF) scheme, atthe cost of Rs.7268 Crores.PSDF can beutilized, inter alia, for creating necessary transmission systems of strategicimportance based on operational feedback by Load Dispatch Centres forrelieving congestion in Inter-State Transmission Systems (ISTS) and intra-statesystem which are incidental to the ISTS. This fund can also be utilized forRenovation & Modernization of transmission and distribution systems for relievingcongestion, Shri Goyal added.



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Ministry of Water Resources
09-March, 2017 15:26 IST
Impact of Hydel Projects on Ganga Rejuvenation

Government of India has released Rs. 4321.05 crore till date i.e. 28.02.2017 to National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) out of which NMCG has spent Rs. 1984.49 crore. 143 projects have been sanctioned under Namami Gange Programme (including the existing projects sanctioned under National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) Programme) till January 31, 2017, for cleaning of river Ganga.

NGRBA has resolved that by year 2020 no untreated municipal sewage and industrial effluent will be discharged into River Ganga. A report on the six Hydel Projects on Upper Ganga has been submitted to the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change by the Expert Body (EB) which has been constituted vide MoEF & CC’s OM dated June 03, 2015 in pursuance of orders of Hon’ble Supreme Court in Civil Appeal No.6736 of 2013 for carrying out Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA) and Carrying Capacity Study (CCS) in upper reaches of river Ganga in the state of Uttarakhand on October 19, 2015.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change vide its affidavit dated November 05, 2015 filed the report of EB on the six hydro electric power projects namely Alaknanda HEP, Bhyunder Ganga HEP, Khirao Ganga SHP, Lata Tapovan HEP, Kotlibhel 1A HEP and Jhelam Tamak HEP alongwith a copy of the Expert Body (EB) report in the Hon’ble Supreme Court.

This information was given by Union Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Vijay Goel in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/three-ntpc-units-to-be-renovated/article17435263.ece


PEDDAPALLI March 09, 2017 18:26 IST
Updated: March 09, 2017 18:28 IST

In the wake of Central Electricity Authority (CEA) instructions to replace old units with the super-critical units to conserve natural resources such as coal, water, land and also check pollution, the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Ramagundam has decided to take up renovation and modernisation (R&M) of its 3 x 200 MWs Stage-I units very soon.

These units which started functioning three decades ago will be renovated and modernised at a cost of ₹ 382 crore in the next three years. These boilers of these three units would be replaced along with turbines to improve its efficiency in power generation. After renovation, the units would consume less coal and also emit less pollution.


NTPC Ramagundam Executive Director Dilip Kumar Dubey said that they had chalked out strategies for the R&M of all three old units by shutting down each unit for a period of 105 days to take up renovation. After the completion of the R&M, each unit would generate power at a capacity of 210 MWs against its original 200 MWs, he added.

The opencast coal mine of the Singareni Collieries at Sattupalli in Khammam District. | Photo Credit: ; - G_N_RAO

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...s-demand-compensation-job/article17437150.ece


Kothagudem-Sattupalli rail line work expected to begin soon
The Telangana Girijana Sangham is gearing up to undertake mass movements in Kothagudem division to press for fair compensation, including jobs, to tribal people likely to lose their lands for the Kothagudem (Bhadrachalam Road)-Sattupalli rail line.

The Girijana Sangham has drawn up an action plan to organise a slew of meetings in the division in the next few weeks in view of the fact that the Centre has allocated ₹300 crore in the Union Budget for the long pending rail line.

SCCL investment

The Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) is taking keen interest in the rail line as it is essential for transporting coal from the JVR opencast project in Sattupalli to various coal consuming units in the State and elsewhere in the country in a cost-effective manner. Environmental norms stipulate transportation of coal by rail wagons, sources said.

Further, the Kothagudem-Sattupalli rail line would extend rail connectivity to Kovvur in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

The SCCL released substantial amount for the project towards final location survey and preliminary work such as demarcation of stones more than two years ago.


Tribals to be affected

A survey has been conducted under the aegis of the Girijana Sangham in Chunchupalli, Sujathnagar and Chandrugonda mandals to assess the extent of likely loss of lands belonging to tribal people in the three mandals, district secretary of Girijan Sangham Guguloth Dharma said.

According to the survey in the three mandals, more than 175 tribal families will be affected by the rail line project, he added.

Fair compensation

The government should ensure adequate compensation to the oustees as per the Land Acquisition Resettlement and Rehabilitation Act, 2013, he said, demanding that each project affected family should be given a job.

A district level convention will be held at Regalla in Laxmidevipalli mandal in a day or two to chalk out an action plan to safeguard the interests of tribal people as the work on the new rail line are likely to begin soon.

 

[Hindustani78]

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)
15-March, 2017 19:54 IST
Cabinet approves Policy for Early Monetization of Coal Bed Methane Gas Marketing and Pricing Freedom for CBM Gas

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister ShriNarendra Modi todaygave its approval for marketing and pricing freedom to the Coal Bed Methane (CBM) Contractors to sell the CBM at Arm's Length Price in the domestic market. While discovering the market price for Arms Length Sales, the Contractor has to ensure a fully transparent and competitive process for sale of CBM with the objective that the best possible price is realized for the gas without any restrictive commercial practices.

CBM contractors have also been permitted to sell the CBM to its any affiliate, in the event contractor cannot identify any buyer. Royalty and other dues to the Government, however, shall be payable on the basis of Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell (PPAC) notified prices or selling prices, whichever is higher.

The policy is expected to incentivize the CBM operation in the country to boost gas production and will generate economic activities which in turn will be beneficial for creating more employment opportunities in CBM operations and related activities.

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[Hindustani78]

Power Minster Pyush Goyal said during 12th Plan till September 2016, a total of 3,000 MW of inefficient thermal generating capacity has been retired, which will result in better utilisation of more efficient plants.
http://indianexpress.com/article/in...be-turned-into-super-critical-plants-4571377/
By: PTI | New Delhi | Published:March 16, 2017 1:31 pm

All power plants, which are over 25 years old, will be phased out and converted into ‘super critical plants’ to augment generation capacity and reduce pollution, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday. Goyal told Lok Sabha that these old power plants of NTPC, which together produced around 11,000 MW power, will be phased out gradually and converted into ‘super critical plant’.

“Such plants are six to eight time less pollutant and will be able to generate more power,” he said during Question Hour. Goyal said during 12th Plan till September 2016, a total of 3,000 MW of inefficient thermal generating capacity has been retired, which will result in better utilisation of more efficient plants.

The Minister said to revive and improve utilisation of the stranded gas based power generation capacity in the country, the Centre has sanctioned a scheme supported with Power System Development Fund for utilisation of gas based power generation capacity for 2015-16 and 2016-17.

“The scheme envisages supply of imported re-gasified liquefied natural gas to the stranded gas based plants as well as plants receiving domestic gas, selected through a reverse e-bidding process,” he said.

Goyal said with ’24X7 power for all’ initiative taken jointly with the state governments, the access to electricity would increase and accordingly the electricity demand would increase, leading to increased utilisation of power generation capacity.

“Plans for 35 out of 36 states/UTs have already been prepared and are under implementation,” he said.

The Minister said UDAY (Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana), a scheme for the financial turnaround and operational improvement of power distribution companies has been approved by the government which may enable them to procure more power from generators, thus increasing their Plant Load Factor.

 

[Hindustani78]

The Minister of State for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines (Independent Charge), Shri Piyush Goyal interacting with CEOs at an event felicitated by Follow CII, in New Delhi on March 20, 2017.

The Minister of State for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines (Independent Charge), Shri Piyush Goyal interacting with CEOs at an event felicitated by Follow CII, in New Delhi on March 20, 2017.

 

[Hindustani78]

The Minister of State for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines (Independent Charge), Shri Piyush Goyal being presented the interim dividend cheque for the Financial Year of 2016-17 by the CMD, NTPC, Shri Gurdeep Singh, in New Delhi on March 21, 2017. The Secretary, Ministry of Power, Shri P.K. Pujari is also seen.

The Minister of State for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines (Independent Charge), Shri Piyush Goyal being presented the interim dividend cheque for the Financial Year of 2016-17 by the CMD, THDC India Ltd., Shri Dhirendra Veer Singh, in New Delhi on March 21, 2017. The Secretary, Ministry of Power, Shri P.K. Pujari is also seen.

The Minister of State for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines (Independent Charge), Shri Piyush Goyal being presented the interim dividend cheque for the Financial Year of 2016-17 by the CMD, SJVN Ltd., Shri Ramesh Narain Misra, in New Delhi on March 21, 2017. The Secretary, Ministry of Power, Shri P.K. Pujari is also seen.

The Minister of State for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines (Independent Charge), Shri Piyush Goyal being presented the interim dividend cheque for the Financial Year of 2016-17 by the CMD, NALCO, Dr. Tapan Kumar Chand, in New Delhi on March 21, 2017.

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Coal
23-March, 2017 12:36 IST
Reduction in Import of Coal

On account of increased production of coal imports have fallen from 217.78 Mte in 2014-15 to 199.88 Mte in 2015-16. The trend of fall in import of coal has continued in 2016-17 wherein for the period April 2016-January 2017, coal imports have reduced by 2.59% as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. This was stated by Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal & New and Renewable Energy and Mines in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.

However, import of coal is not solely dependent on the domestic production of coal. It also depends on other factors like power plant designed on imported coal and insufficient availability of coking coal of required grade. A policy for allocation of coal to power sector is under formulation, the Minister added.

The Minister further stated that as per International Energy Agency (IEA), India was the third largest producer and second largest importer of coal in 2014 in the World.

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Power
24-March, 2017 15:50 IST
Powergrid Commissions ±800kV HVDC Champa - Kurukshetra Pole-I

Trial operations of 1500MW, Pole-I of ±800kV HVDC Champa - Kurukshetra transmission System has been successfully completed and the Pole has been put to commercial operations, starting today. The above system is part of “±800kV, 3000MW WR-NR HVDC Interconnector Transmission System for IPP Projects in Chhattisgarh”. With commercial operation of Pole-I, HVDC Terminal at Champa (in Western Region) & Kurukshetra (in Northern Region) alongwith 2576 Ckm Champa - Kurukshetra HVDC Transmission line have been commissioned, at a total cost of about ₹6,300Crore. Further, Pole-II of 1500MW capacity, is also expected to be commissioned by June’17. This project will enable transfer of power from IPP generation projects coming up in Raigarh, Champa, and Raipur generation complex in Chhattisgarh to demand centres of Northern region viz. Haryana, Punjab, UP, Rajasthan and adjoining areas.

This transmission system is further being upgraded to 6000 MW capacity with addition of 2nd HVDC Bipole (CK-2) of 3000MW, ±800kV HVDC Terminals under “Transmission System Strengthening in WR-NR Transmission corridor for IPP Projects in Chhattisgarh” at an additional cost of about ₹5200 Crore, which is expected to be completed by December 2018.

The above transmission system has been designed using State-of-the-art HVDC Technology and shall facilitate in meeting controlled power flow requirement, flexibility of operation as well as maintaining system parameters within limits through its control mechanism. The link augments the inter-regional capacity of Northern Region with Western Region, thereby facilitating economic dispatch of power and exchange of surplus power between Northern Region and Western Region, depending on the availability of generation and load demand in each region.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://indianexpress.com/article/in...r-exec-among-five-named-in-coal-case-4584489/

Written by Anindya Thakuria | New Delhi | Published:March 25, 2017 5:08 am

A special CBI court in New Delhi took cognizance Friday of a fresh chargesheet in which the agency named five more persons in the coal scam case involving industrialist Naveen Jindal. Issuing summons to those mentioned in the chargesheet, special CBI judge Bharat Parashar asked all of them to appear before the court on April 10. In its chargesheet filed Friday, the CBI named Jindal Steel and Power Ltd’s adviser Anand Goel, Gurgaon-based Green Infra’s vice-president Siddharth Madra, Nihar Stocks Ltd director B S N Suryanarayan, Mumbai-based KE International’s chief financial officer Rajeev Aggarwal, and Mumbai’s Essar Power Limited executive vice-chairman Sushil Kumar Maroo.

Former Minister of State (Coal) Dasari Narayan Rao and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda are also accused in the case. Naveen Jindal, along with several top officials of the Jindal Group and former Coal secretary H C Gupta are currently on bail in the case, and are required to take permission of the court in case they want to travel abroad. In 2008, when the coal block was allotted to the Jindal Group, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in charge of the Coal Ministry. In 2015, the court rejected an application by Dasari Narayan Rao to summon Manmohan Singh in the case.

The CBI has alleged that Koda favoured Jindal group firms — Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and Gagan Sponge Iron Pvt Ltd (GSIPL) — in allocation of the Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand. It has been alleged that Jindal group misrepresented facts about its companies and several people in government colluded with the company to allot the coal block to the group. The Jindal group companies have maintained that the Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block was never mined and, therefore, there could have been be no loss to the exchequer in terms of revenue lost, that the allotment was cancelled in 2014 by the Supreme Court when it quashed allotment of 214 coal blocks made between 1993 and 2010.

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Coal
27-March, 2017 17:38 IST
Auctioning of Coal Blocks

So far, 82 coal mines have been allocated by way of auction / allotment under the provisions of the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 and the Rules made thereunder. Of these 82 coal mines, 31 have been allocated through e-auction and 51 by way of allotment. This was stated by Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal & New and Renewable Energy and Mines in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.

The Minister further stated that no coal mine / block has been auctioned in the last one year under the provisions of the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015.. However, 6 coal mines have been allotted to State Government Undertakings for sale of coal in the last one year under the provisions of the said Act.

The Minister further stated that the Government has not fixed any revenue generation target from the auction/allotment of coal mines.A monitoring mechanism for the development of the coal mines in accordance with the efficiency parameters specified in the agreement is in place. The Nominated Authority reviews the progress of coal mines allocated under Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 on a regular basis. Failure by the allocattee companies in adhering to the terms and conditions / efficiency parameters for the development of the coal mines results in measures as stipulated in the agreement which includes appropriation of the performance bank guarantee and cancellation of the Allotment / Vesting Order, the Minister added.

Giving further details, the Minister said that an Online Coal Project Monitoring Portal has been established in the Ministry of Coal for resolving issues pending at the State level. Clarifications have been issued on various issues hampering mine development for expeditious operationalization of coal mines.

 

[Hindustani78]

Black gold: A view of the 21 incline coal mine at Yellandu of Bhadradri Kothagudem District. | Photo Credit: G_N_RAO
http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...of-coal-production-target/article17712518.ece


Company produces 60.30 million tonnes of coal against internal target of 66.06 mt; Only four divisions reach desired levels

The State-owned coal mining giant Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) produced 60.30 million tonnes of coal till March 27 as against the internal annual production target of 66.06 million tonnes and official target of 58 million tonnes for the current fiscal.

Though the company surpassed its official coal output target for the current fiscal four days ahead of the stipulated time-frame, it may miss the ambitious internal production target of 66.06 million tonnes if the ongoing pace of production amid severe heat wave conditions prevailing in the coal belt region, is any indication.

The premier coal production company may not repeat the 15% growth in production this fiscal, the stupendous feat which it achieved through persistent coordinated efforts in previous fiscal (2015-16).

Internal target

Propelled by the pressing need for scaling up coal production to meet the burgeoning coal needs of the State, the SCCL management had stipulated the ambitious internal target of 66.06 million tonnes for the current year in line with its goal to achieve 100 million tonnes production mark in the next three years.

However, multiple factors including the delay in commissioning of a few coal mines for want of mandatory clearances and overhaul of giant mining equipment, among others, posed hurdles to the SCCL's production endeavours.

Gas leak

Methane gas leakage in the more than five-decade-old PVK 5 shaft in Kothagudem area took a heavy toll on coal production for a few weeks in July last year. Despite various barriers, the Kothagudem area comprising two underground mines and two OCPs topped the remaining ten areas of the company in despatching coal in the present financial year. The area despatched 91 lakh tonnes of coal up to Monday, sources said.

The Kothagudem area has so far produced around 92 lakh tonnes of coal as against the annual output target of 98.75 lakh tonnes. The delay in operationalisation of the JVR OCP-II posed a major impediment.

Only 4 make the mark

Only four divisions of the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) - RG-3, Bellampalli, RG-1 and Bhupalapalli have achieved cent per cent production of the coal days before the completion of the financial year.

The Kothagudem, Illendu, Manuguru, RG-2, Mandamarri and Srirampur division failed to achieve the targets. Interestingly, out of the coal produced 50.76 million tonnes was from Opencast Project Coal Mines (OCPs) and remaining 9.50 million tonnes from the Underground (UG) mines. Production in the SCCL having 16 OCPs and 29 UG mines in 11 divisions, was hampered due to incessant rains during the monsoons.