Maharashtra will get its maiden consignment of 1.5 lakh tonnes of imported coal from Indonesia by early next week.
Maharashtra State Power Generation Company (Mahagenco) officials said the coal is expected to reach by May 23 after which it would be transported to the thermal power stations (TPSs).
“Maharashtra is ahead of other states in importing fuel for its TPSs. Other states are still in the process of finalising the tenders,” a top Mahagenco functionary told TOI.
The Union power ministry on Wednesday had warned power generation companies that it would slash domestic coal supply by 5 per cent if they did not start importing coal by June 15. The ministry has set a May 31 deadline for finalisation of tenders for importing coal.
“Mahagenco started its plans of importing coal soon after the Union government allowed states to import coal for the TPSs, as it’s a long-drawn process,” power utility officials said.
Mahagenco will import 20 lakh tonnes of coal from Indonesia in phases following the crisis in the domestic supply. Maharashtra has been getting around 1.2 lakh tonnes of domestic coal till April end against its per day requirement of around 1.3 lakh tonnes for its seven TPSs. However, since early May, the domestic supply improved to around 1.4 lakh tonnes a day due to Mahagenco’s efforts to boost supply from Western Coalfields Ltd.
“Once the imported coal arrives at our TPSs, we will start blending at least 10-15 per cent of it with domestic coal for power generation. The imported coal has higher calorific value, which will help in improving generation efficiencies of the units at the TPSs,” said an official.
