NEW DELHI: Coal shortage at power plants may appear to be over for the time being but the spectre of another crisis is lurking beneath the surface, especially for generation stations located far from mines. But unlike September last year, this time such plants — termed as ‘foreign’ by Indian Railways — are suffering due to discrimination in allotment of rakes and a free-for-all among railway zones in the race to post higher despatch figures.
Last week, the Amaravati power plant operated by Rattan India Power Ltd in Maharashtra became the first victim of the situation when it shut down one of its units due to coal shortage resulting from insufficient rake allotment by SECR, the south east central zone of the railways.
The power ministry on January 17 issued an office memo seeking details of remedial action taken by the Railways as grumblings from private power plants facing similar situation grew louder, government sources said. Industry sources said L&T’s Nhava and Vedanta’s Talwandi Sabo power plants are among other plants facing similar predicament. These plants could not be contacted immediately.
The problem, both government and industry sources said, lies in zones focusing on power plants and mines located within their jurisdiction or the rakes do not have to cross multiple zones.
