The Ministry of Coal has clarified that the Government of Maharashtra is receiving more coal at present than in March this year.
In response to a news item appearing in a section of the Media, the Ministry stated that as of now, the State is meeting their coal requirement. Thermal Power Plants (TPP) of Maharashtra were supplied with 70.77 Million Ton (MT) of coal during the financial year 2021-22.
The Coal Ministry further stated that coal supply to thermal plants is increasing in tandem with increase in demand for power. As per the statistics of the Ministry, in March 2022, coal supply to power plants of Maharashtra was 2.14 lakh ton per day. The same been stepped up to 2.76 lakh ton per day this month/April, till 11.04.2022.
Mahagenco has been supplied 37.131 MT coal in 2021-22. The daily coal supply to Mahagenco in March 22 was 0.96 lakh ton per day which has been increased further to 1.32 lakh ton per day in April (till 11.04.22). It is equally pertinent that the coal requirement of Maharashtra is being met despite Mahagenco having outstanding dues of nearly Rs.2390 crore.
The ministry stressed that there may be issues of gas-based generation and of hydro power, but from the coal perspective there is “no criticality”. Last month, the coal supply to power plants in Maharashtra was 2.14 lakh tonnes (LT) per day which increased to 2.76 lakh tonnes per day in the current month (till April 11), the coal ministry said in a statement. The statement comes a day after Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole stated that the power crisis in the state has been caused due to lack of coal supply by the central government. “As you may see, Maharashtra is receiving more coal than in March. As of now they are meeting their coal requirement except for building up stocks.
MOP (Ministry of Power) has asked them to import coal which may come only from mid May. That is when stocks may rise,” the coal ministry said in a statement. “So their issue is of low stocks ….There may be issues of gas based generation and of Hydro, but from coal perspective there is no criticality,” the statement said. The thermal power plants (TPP) of Maharashtra were supplied 70.77 million tonnes (MT) of coal in FY’22.
*With inputs from agencies
