Coal linkages News

The government had this week issued broad guidelines for the methodology of the auction.

Allocation of coal linkages for the non-regulated sector, which includes steel and cement, will be only through the auction route to ensure transparency, government said Wednesday.

To ensure fuel supply to power plants, the proposed policy for coal linkages is likely to be finalised within a fortnight, the government said Tuesday.

Power Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday exuded confidence that the world would appreciate India's dedication towards climate change and the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) which are likely to be announced on October 2.

Government is considering a policy for coal linkage auction and has sought comments from stakeholders on the draft auction methodology it has prepared.

"Talcher Thermal Power station we are planning to add 1,320 MW. In super thermal power station we are planning to add another 1,600 MW. So what will essentially happen is that in that area itself there will be almost 3,000 MW of capacity addition...So it will become a power hub in Odisha...," Choudhury said.

Linkages are assured supply commitments from Coal India to a company that has an end-use plant and needs fuel to run it.

Short-term coal linkages to end-use plants in sectors such as power, whose coal blocks were cancelled by the Supreme Court, should be further extended to June-end, an inter-ministerial panel has recommended.

State-owned Coal India Ltd has been asked to auction annual coal quantities it sells to users like power plants, through a transparent process.

Coal India (CIL) will continue to provide tapering linkages to those power plants whose coal blocks were cancelled by the Supreme Court recently.

State-owned Coal India Ltd will engage an external consultant to examine various structures and implementation models to auction coal linkages.

Rationalisation of coal linkages with power plants would result in savings of about Rs 1,114 crore on account of transportation costs.

The government could soon finalise the proposal for coal linkage rationalisation and swapping arrangements of about 40 thermal power projects, a move that is expected to save up to Rs 6,000 crore in logistics cost.