TRS govt seeks coal blocks
TRS govt seeks coal blocks, In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has requested that the State may be allotted with coal and coal blocks based on the State’s power requirements.
KCR writes letter to Narendra Modi
Hyderabad: In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has requested that the State may be allotted with coal and coal blocks based on the State’s power requirements. The Union Ministry of Coal has issued orders for allotment of 36 coal blocks to power projects, wherein end use has been specified prescribing certain norms and parameters, according to the Chief Minister.
Chandrashekar Rao said the State was struggling with teething troubles, energy deficit being the most important one and highlighted that it was imperative for the government of India to extend support to Telangana.
The Chief Minister, in his letter, also mentioned that 2.5 MTPA coal was required for Kakatiya TPP Phase II, which was in accordance with the norms scheduled for commissioning in the latter half of 2015. It was originally linked to Tadcherla-I coal block, which was subsequently cancelled in accordance with the Supreme Court judgment dated September 24, 2014. Tadcherla-I coal block requires restoration as this is one of the coal blocks listed for allotment now. There is a supply gap of 4.50 MTPS for existing power plants, which require coal blocks allocation.
Further, Singareni Collieries (SCCL) is constructing a power plant which would be operational by December, 2015 for which 6 MTPA is required. Another unit of 600 MW is being added to this and thus another 3 MTPA of coal would be needed.
“The Telangana government has undertaken an ambitious project to add an additional capacity of 4,200 MW in the next 4 years to overcome the severe power crisis faced by the State. Coal requirement for these projects is 21 MTPA.
All proposals for these projects have been at an advanced stage of financial closure,” said Chandrashekar Rao in his letter to PM Modi.
The state government listed a year-wise requirement of coal considering various projects, which is 12.99 MTPA for 2015-2016, 21.79 MTPA for 2016-2017, 29.79 MTPA for 2017-2018, 48.74 MTPA for 2018-2019 and 57MTPA for 2019-2020.
