Coal India, NTPC to meet on coal quality issues, dues

Coal India Ltd (CIL) and NTPC are likely to meet on Wednesday to address the issues pertaining to the quality of fuel supplies as well as the power major's Rs 2,840 crore dues to the coal PSU.

"CIL will meet NTPC on power firm's pending dues to the coal PSU and coal quality issue," said a CIL official.

On April 1, Coal India had stopped coal supplies to NTPC's power plants. However, they were restored on April 4.

"The coal supply has more or less being restored. Some coal is going from other place also...The issue is being sorted out. From April 4 onwards it (coal supply to NTPC) is around 50-60 per cent," Coal India chairman and managing director S Narsing Rao told PTI.

Meanwhile, CIL has been writing to NTPC to clear the dues amounting to over Rs 2,840 crore.

"Our coal companies have been writing to them. It (NTPC) owes us (totally from all sources) Rs 2,840 crore. In March, we wrote to NTPC on dues clearance," the chairman said.

NTPC, on its part, has been complaining that it was being supplied inferior quality of coal by CIL.

When asked whether CIL was ready for third party sampling of coal at the delivery point, Mr Rao said: "They (NTPC) have been demanding that the coal should be sampled at their end, whereas we have been saying there is no such provision.

"We have unilaterally decided to engage the services of a third party but that would be only at the loading end. Unloading point is not acceptable because we are not responsible for delivery at their point. We are responsible with delivery at our point."

Last week, the Coal Ministry had directed CIL to continue supplying at least 50 per cent of fuel requirements to NTPC for the time being.

Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal had also said: "In the meantime after having talks with NTPC, the dues will be recovered."

The country's largest power producer has refused to sign fuel supply agreements (FSAs) with CIL saying that it was supplying inferior quality coal.

The Prime Minister's Office is pushing CIL to sign FSAs for supply of a minimum threshold of coal to power producers, but NTPC says the world's largest coal producer is supplying "rocks and boulders" just to meet its supply commitment.

NTPC buys close to 140 million tonnes of coal to fire its thermal power plants. While most of CIL's other customers have signed the pact, NTPC has not signed FSA for 4,500 MW power generation capacity.