The Orissa government has directed the Mahanadi Coalfield Ltd to ensure adequate coal supply to the National Thermal Power Corp and National Aluminium Corp power stations in the state.

Mr Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak state energy minister said that MCL authorities have been directed to make the necessary arrangements for supply of the required quantity of coal to the power stations of NTPC and Nalco. Since the state government is currently sourcing power from these two concerns to overcome the power crisis, generation by these concerns is very crucial for the state.

Coal supply to NTPC and Nalco has been badly hit as 5000 drivers and helpers engaged by private transport agencies struck work early last week demanding a pay hike. The transportation problem has affected MCL production. A senior MCL official said that “ Eighty per cent of production from seven open cast mines has been hampered due to the strike.”

While NTPC, which has two power plants of 3000 MW and 480 MW capacity in the state, require about 70,000 tonnes of coal per day, Nalco, which has a captive generation plant of 960MW needs about 15,000 tonnes per day. Currently, Orissa is sourcing 800 MW of power from NTPC and about 200 MW from Nalco to tide over the power crisis.

Apprehending that the short supply of coal is going to hit generation, both NTPC and Nalco have alerted the state about the possibility of a power outage. The truck drivers strike last year had forced them to regulate generation.

(Sourced from Financial Express)