STC to import coal to feed thermal plants, NTPC to follow suit

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Chennai, Sep 3: The State Trading Corporation of India (STC) is believed to have kicked off the process to import coal of various origins which would be supplied to the feedstock starved thermal power stations with which the agency has supply contracts. Most of the thermal power stations using coal as feedstock had to pare down their production drastically following acute shortage of the fuel. The Centre has directed the state channelising agency to import coal through qualified agencies by floating a two-part tender process which would be sourced through different sea ports in the country.

According to information available with FE, STC has reportedly initiated a two-part tendering process to import 8.25 million tonne of different grades of coal and the central agency is expected to close the process by late September or early November. STC would supply the imported feedstock to different power stations which have been already its customers. The fate of other power projects running on coal which do not have any agreement with STC is not immediately known.

STC's move comes close on the heels of severe coal shortage which has led to a drastic reduction in the production of thermal power across the country. The dip in power production has, in turn, forced many a state to clamp power outage for longer hours, a move which had drawn flack from different groups. Tamil Nadu, for instance, has announced power outage ranging from four hours to six hours in its various parts following a dip in the production of electricity by units located in the state as well as reduced allocation from the Central pool.

At least, two major collieries had announced that they have missed the production target for the month of July. They are state-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) and Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL). According to an official statement: "During the month of July 2008, the actual coal produced by Coal India Ltd and SCCL was 30.02 million tonne as against the annual action plan (AAP) target of 32.44 million tonne". "The actual coal production by CIL and SCCL during July 2007 was 28.74 million tonnes", it added.