TOI reported that Maharashtra State Power Generation Company has requested the Western Coalfield Ltd to restore coal linkages to it from the mines of Vidarbha instead of Orissa. Access to coal from mines within the state would help the MSPGCL optimize its operations and also improve the inventory.

MSPGCL was facing an acute shortage of coal, down almost to just a day's stock. It was running the six thermal plants in Maharashtra with minimum amount of coal stock in hand, triggering a possibility of a shutdown.

In this backdrop, it held a meeting with WCL to discuss the optimization of coal linkages. MSPGCL told WCL to shift the e-auction of coal to the Mahanadi coal reserve in Orissa while allowing it to lift maximum coal from the mines of Vidarbha.

Mr Ajoy Mehta MD of MSPGCL said that “The coal shortage would be over if WCL does not sell large quantity of coal through e-auction. He said that WCL almost allotted 10% of coal through e-auction instead of 3% earlier. This affected our quota badly."

Mr Mehta said that the MSPGCL's quota was shifted to Mahanadi coal reserves in Orissa. As a result, there were huge delays in transportation of coal from Orissa to Maharashtra. He further added that our request to WCL is to allot more coal through e-auction in Orissa. This will automatically help us lift the majority of our quota from Vidarbha's mines.