T, AP lobby for more coal

• AP govt demands 80,000 tonnes daily
• T govt asks Union govt to supply 40,000 tonnes a day
• Both the govts say the thermal plants are unable to operate full capacity

Hyderabad: The AP and Telangana governments, which are already at loggerheads on the issue of water and power sharing and is seeking Centre's intervention to resolve the issue, has now pushed another ball into the Union government’s court.

Andhra Pradesh government requested the Union Ministry of Coal to allot 80, 000 tonnes of coal per day to meet the demands of thermal power plants.

The Telangana government petitioned the Centre to supply 40, 000 tonnes of coal every day for the optimal utilisation of installed capacity in the thermal power generation plants.

The AP government told the Union Minister for Power Piyush Goyal, who is also looking after the affairs of Coal Ministry, that the State was generating only 2000 mw of the total installed capacity of 3000 mw due to shortage of coal.

The officials of the State Energy department told The Hans India that the government had apprised the Centre of the acute power cuts for domestic and industrial sectors because of coal scarcity in the new State.

The government also brought to the notice of the Centre that the first unit Krishnapatnam thermal plant with a capacity of 800 MW was not being commissioned as the coal allotment for the plant for this year was still pending before the Coal India.

The officials said coal shortage was a major stumbling block to the State to overcome the power crisis.

The VTPS (Vijayawada Thermal Power Station) required 30,000 tonnes of Coal, Rayalaseema Thermal Power Project in Kadapa needs 15,000 tones and the Krishnapatnam plant 20,000 tonnes of coal to generate power to full capacity.

The Telagnana government was lobbying with the Centre strongly to finalise the allotment of coal to the 2000MW capacity Shankarpalli thermal plant to be established at Shankarpalli in Ranga Reddy districts. A detailed project Report (DPR) submitted by the government was accepted by the Coal Ministry last year. But the coal supply and the quota for the project was yet to be finalised.

The officials said once the project was commissioned, Telangana State would become power surplus. The existing 1750 mw project in Kothagudem requires 25,000 tonnes of coal every day.

The government is demanding allotment of 40 ,000 tonnes of coal every day to meet the demand in the coming days.

Till now, the officials said the Coal India was supplying coal based on the total installed capacity of the thermal plants and the requirement of power in the peak hours in the undivided state. Tentatively, the thermal projects in AP were allotted 55,000 tonnes of coal and the plants in Telangana were being supplied around 30,000 tonnes of coal this year.

Now, the requirement of power in the peak hours and the installed capacity of the projects varied after the State divided into Telangana and AP. The officials of the two states hoped the Coal India would take a decision on the allotment of coal very soon.

The two governments may send their officials to Delhi for securing more coal for thermal plants.