Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) to allow higher amount of blending upto 30% with imported coal

New Delhi : The details of domestic supply and demand of coal during the last five years are given below:-

(in Million Tonnes)

The production and supply of domestic coal is mostly used in power plants. In order to build adequate coal stock before onset of monsoon, Ministry of Power had issued advisory on 28.04.2022 to State Sector and IPP plants to import coal for blending @10% of their requirement and also directed on 18.05.2022, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) to allow higher amount of blending upto 30% with imported coal, subject to technical feasibility, for the period upto 31^st March, 2023, to maintain resource adequacy and 24×7 power to consumers. Ministry of Power has reviewed stock position of the States and Gencos. As informed by CEA, coal stock available with the thermal power plants, as on 31.07.2022, was 29.9 MT, which is about 52% of the normative level. As such, there is no coal shortage in the thermal plants of the county. Ministry of Power after reviewing coal stock position, decided on 01.08.2022 that now onward, States/IPPs and Ministry of Coal may decide the blending percentage after assessing the availability of domestic supplies.

The Government has taken several steps to ramp up domestic coal production and achieve self-reliance in coal Industry. 100% Foreign Direct Investment is allowed for commercial mining. Several measures are taken to increase domestic production. Some of the Major initiatives taken to increase domestic production of coal are as follows:

• Single Window Clearance portal has been launched for the coal sector to speed up the operationalisation of coal mines. It is an unified platform that facilitates grant of clearances and approvals required for starting a coal mine in India.
• Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 amended to allow sale up to 50% of their annual production after meeting the requirement of the end use plant.
• Commercial auction of coal blocks on revenue sharing basis and allotment of specific coal blocks for captive end use.
• A Monitoring Committee has been constituted under the Chairmanship of Secretary (Coal) with Chief Secretaries from respective Host States, Secretary (MoEF& CC), Coal Controller Organization (CCO) & CMPDIL as members of the Committee to conduct regular reviews and to expedite the development of blocks.
• To increase production through MDO model, Coal India Ltd. has identified 15 MDO Projects having combined capacity of 168.6 Million Tonne per year (MTY) of which Six MDO Projects have already been awarded with capacity of 96.74 MTY.
• For capacity addition, 52 new & expansion projects have been approved with additional capacity of 250 MTY and projected to contribute additional production of about 102 Mt by FY 25.
• Advanced Technologies like surface miners, etc. for open cast mining and Power supported Longwall (PSLW), High wall Mining, continuous miner etc. for underground mines are being deployed tor efficiency and higher production of coal.
• To improve evacuation efficiency, 44 First Mile Connectivity (FMC) projects are being implemented to consolidate CIL’s effort towards upgradation and expansion of coal evacuation infrastructure and minimize transportation of coal through road mode in the first mile.
• CIL has also invested in the construction of 7 critical new rail line projects for its expansion Brownfield mining projects and Greenfield projects in Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand with an estimated capital investment of Rs 20,000 Cr.

This information was given by the Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pralhad Joshi in a written reply in  Rajya Sabha today.