Government still to heed Madhya Pradesh’s demand for coal

BHOPAL - The Madhya Pradesh government has reiterated its demand to the central government for “adequate quantity of quality coal” for its thermal power plants but has so far received no positive response, official sources said Sunday.

State Power Minister Rajendra Shukla met union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal in the national capital last week and informed them that supply of low-quality coal had adversely affected power generation at the Sanjay Gandhi, Birsinghpur and Satpura thermal power plants in the state.

“The thermal power stations run by Madhya Pradesh Power Generating Company Limited (MPPGCL) are currently being supplied 150 lakh tonnes annually as per the annually contracted quantity (ACQ). This quantity was fixed when Plant Load factor (PLF) was 70 per cent. Now, when in view of shortage of power in the state, efforts are on to enhance PLF to 75 per cent, the ACQ should be increased to 200 lakh tonnes,” Shukla reportedly told the central ministers.

However, an official of the MPPGCL told IANS on condition of anonymity that there has not been any “positive response from the central ministers so far even as the demand of power in the state, facing a shortage of over 5,000 MW, is at its peak”.

Madhya Pradesh has time and again accused the central government of deliberately not supplying adequate coal to the state.

Last year, the central government had allegedly asked the state to import coal directly from abroad but the state’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was sceptical as importing coal would have been expensive since Madhya Pradesh is not situated near a sea port.