Coal India Unit May Auction Stockpiles Not Lifted by NTPC

Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), a subsidiary of Coal India that supplies fuel to NTPC's power plant in Odisha, on Wednesday said it is exploring e-auctioning the coal that has not been lifted by the utility.

"Failure to lift the required quantity of coal from the sidings by the NTPC Kaniha (power plant) has forced Mahanadi Coalfields to explore alternatives to clear the piling up stocks from its mines in Talcher coalfields," according to an MCL spokesperson.

About 50,000 tonnes of coal is lying at the railway sidings, while over 1.2 lakh tonnes of the dry fuel is at the pit head, the spokesperson said.

"Since rising coal stocks at pit head as well as sidings also hampers daily production from the mines, MCL has been forced to go for e-auctioning of coal," the spokesperson said.

However, according to an NTPC official, the coal was not picked up due to a derailment that took three-four days to repair.

For the past 10 days, NTPC has been picking up the allocated quantity, the official said, adding that there has been substantial improvement in coal output from MCL of late.

The MCL spokesperson said NTPC has not been able to provide sufficient rakes at the railway sidings.

"Further, the railway rakes for NTPC Kaniha, which used to have 26 wagons, now have 22 to 23 wagons only, resulting in increase in coal stocks at the railway sidings from average 5,000 tonnes to about 50,000 tonnes," the spokesperson said.

MCL's Kaniha Open Cast Mine, which has NTPC Kaniha power plant as the primary consumer, produces 20,000 to 22,000 tonnes of coal per day.