Govt allots 14 coal blocks to power PSUs; 4 to NTPC

Kickstarting the process of coal blocks allocation, the government has allocated 14 coal mines to Central and state PSUs, including four to NTPC.
   
"Ministry of Coal has allocated 14 coal blocks for power sector. Around 15 states and six Central PSUs have been allocated coal blocks," an official release said.
    
The allocation of the blocks, having a  geological reserve of 8,311 million tonnes (MT), will lead to an investment  of more than Rs 1.6 lakh crore in the power sector, it said.
    
Of the four coal blocks allocated to NTPC, two are in Chhattisgarh and the remaining two in Odisha. The blocks have reserves of 1,995 MT of coal.
    
Other PSUs which have been allocated mines include Neyveli Uttar Pradesh Power Ltd, Odisha Thermal Power Corp, Jammu & Kashmir State Power Dev Corp, Chhattisgarh State Power Gen Co Ltd, Andhra Pradesh Generation Co, Maharashtra State Power Generation Co, Rajasthan Vidyut Utpadan Nigam and Punjab State Power Corp Ltd.

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Deocha-Pachami coal block in West Bengal having a reserve of 2,102 MT has been given to six different state power PSUs, the release said.
    
The blocks capable of producing about 159 MT of coal per annum will cater to about 31,800 mw of power generation capacity in the country, it added.
    
The mines are allocated "on the recommendation of the inter-ministerial committee after due deliberations at every stage with applicant State Government, host states where the coal blocks are located and the concerned administrative Ministry," the release said.
     
The notice invited applications with regard to mines for PSUs last year. In total 318 applications were received, out of which 276 applications were found to be complete in all respects.
    
"Out of these, 235 applications pertained to 14 coal blocks for power. After scrutiny and verification of facts and other important parameters, 128 applications were considered eligible for these 14 coal blocks for power," it said.