Shravanabelagola: The state government, which was in conflict with the Central government over coal supplies for its thermal power plants, has finally managed to import coal from other countries. The stock is expected to arrive this month end.
As per sources, the State will get 10 lakh tons of coal, which will be enough for the emergency maintenance of the power plants. The Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) has finished the tender process.
Metal and SAP company (MSTC) has submitted a bid and there are possibilities of tender getting sanctioned to this company. As per the schedule, foreign coal will be supplied from this month end. The coal which is being supplied to Krishnapattanam of Andhra Pradesh, will be carried using trains, said the sources.
According to the senior officials, the coal storage is decreasing day-by-day in power plants. All units of Raichur RTPS need 28,000 tonnes of coal to function but now there are only 18,000 tonnes of coal supply, which is enough for half day. Three units have been stopped for the maintenance.
RTPS and BTPS need 9 railway loads of coal every day. But, SCCL provided only 4 loads till November, but later though they agreed to provide 5 loads on KPCL’s request, they didn’t do so. They provided only 4.7 loads. Though they agreed to provide 7 railway loads of coal from January, the state received only 4.8 loads, which is two loads less than the promised quantity.
Meanwhile, the officials have decided to use most of the foreign coal at YTPS unit as it has modern system.
