CHANDIGARH: Critical coal stocks in various thermal plants of the country including Punjab is likely to continue even in next financial year as power utilities are not ready to meet the targets of imported coal given to them by Ministry of Power.

Power utilities in the country were expected to import about 18 million tonnes of coal against the given target of 20 million tonnes in the current financial year 2008-09 leaving a shortage of 2 million tonnes of imported coal. Even in the next financial year 2009-10 power utilities have declined to meet the target of 25 million tonnes of coal due to substantial increase in imported coal prices. They are likely to import 20 million tonnes next year.

The total demand of coal by the power utilities in the country is 405 million tonnes for the financial year 2009-10. Coal India has stated that they would be supplying only 312 million tonnes against the target of 318 million tonnes given to them by the Ministry.

Coal India Limited (CIL) and its various subsidiaries have exhibited a poor show during the period April 2008 to January 2009 as most  of the companies have failed to achieve their targets.
 
In a bid to regulate coal imports of the country, the Planning Commission has proposed to evolve a pooled pricing formula. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, has directed Coal India Limited to propose a mechanism to remove the price differential between domestic and imported coal, so that supplies could be affected to all the utilities at the pooled price.

A senior PSEB thermal engineer informed that the additional burden of increase in prices of imported coal is not passed on to consumer and the board is made to suffer. Moreover the boilers of the present units are not designed to use imported coal which is of higher calorific value. The technical limitations of thermal plants only allow blending of 10 percent imported coal with Indian coal.
 
In case of PSEB the board has tried twice to use imported coal for its thermal plant at Ropar and Lehra Mohabatt. First time Australian coal was imported and second time Chinese coal was used. Both times the PSEB had to face controversies and vigilance enquiries. This time PSEB is not opting for imported coal.

As per CEA website the coal shortage at Ropar and Lehra Mohabatt thermal plant in Punjab is due to inadequate linkage. Earlier coal shortage was attributed to less supply by Central Coalmines Limited. In Haryana coal shortage at Yamunanagar is due to inadequate linkage while at Panipat thermal plant it is due to short supply of coal by coal company.

The latest data released by apex power planning body Central Electricity Authority, shows that 37 out of total 78 thermal power stations are running on critical stocks of less than seven days. There are 20 such plants which are running on supercritical stock of less than four days.