NTPC, Reliance Power and Lanco Infratech are among the 12 companies that will receive coal for their newly-commissioned power projects with combined capacity of 12,200 MW, a senior power ministry official said.
At 10:01 am, shares of NTPC were trading 1.33 per cent up at Rs 175.40 and shares of Reliance Power were trading 0.59 per cent up at Rs 119 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
The official said that projects to be commissioned in first quarter this year would get only 40% of assured supply by Coal India Ltd while those set up in 2009-10 and 2010-11 will receive 70-78% of committed quantity.
Thermal power projects are facing acute shortage of fuel supply. Against requirement of over 95 million tonnes, only 41 million tonnes coal is available for projects commissioned after March 31, 2009.
New units to receive coal are NTPC's Dadri, Simhadri, Korba and Farakka plants, Reliance Power's Rosa, Lanco's Amarkantak and KSK Energy's Wardha projects. Power generating utilities of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan are the others to receive coal, the official said.
An executive of state-run power company NTPC said: "This (coal supply) will boost the generation level of NTPC for the current year 2011-12. Especially additional coal allocation at Farakka and Kahalgaon will enhance generation level."
Private power projects that plan to sell output in open market might not get any coal this fiscal, the power ministry official said. The power ministry has been rationing coal among power projects on yearly basis since 2009 due to shortage. Not a single fuel supply agreement has been signed between power utilities and Coal India Ltd after March 31, 2009.
"Additional coal available from Coal India during 2011-12 is inadequate for meeting needs of all new generating units commissioned in 2009-12. We have evolved a rationing system for distribution of coal among new units," the official said.
"Projects that derived tariff as per old cost-plus basis or through competitive bidding are given higher priority. The decision has been taken to prevent steep rise in electricity tariffs," the official added.
Of the 41 million tonnes coal, 8.5 million tonnes has been kept for new units to be commissioned during 2011-12. The balance 32.5 million tonnes has been distributed among new generating units commissioned during 2009-10 and 2010-11, the official said.
Some more projects that are likely to be commissioned this year would be allotted coal depending upon their progress, the official said. Merchant power projects that sell electricity in open markets would get coal if left after meeting requirements of upcoming projects, the official added.
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