Hyderabad, Sep 23 Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday asked officials to take steps to procure coal from Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd and Coal India to generate thermal power in the state.
Reddy, who held a meeting with energy department officials along with his deputy Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, suggested to the latter to hold talks with Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy for procuring coal.
Reddy was serious about power generation being stopped at the Yadadri Thermal Power Station (YTPS) due to coal shortage, an official release said.
The officials informed him that G9 grade coal is required for generation at the YTPS and that the state-run mining firm Singareni Collieries does not have coal blocks which can produce G9 coal.
They also stated that there is no possibility of producing G9 coal from Singareni in the near future as well.
The CM raised questions on the construction of the YTPS using a specific technology which requires only G9 quality coal that is unavailable with Singareni.
The construction of the YTPS far away from the pithead (adjacent to coal mines) and the additional financial burden placed on the state due to transportation of coal was reviewed in detail in the meeting.
The officials told the CM that YTPS was constructed at a distance “due to political reasons during the BRS rule”, the release said.
They said unavailability of quality coal was the reason for the failure to take up full-scale power generation at the YTPS.
As per the official reports, the additional financial burden on the state government to supply coal to the thermal power station was about Rs 40,000 crore.
Responding to queries by the CM and Deputy CM on the possibility of sourcing G9 grade coal from Singareni, the officials clarified that Singareni could not supply G9 coal because the previous government had not participated in the coal block auctions.
(PTI News)
