With tepid electricity demand lowering utilisation levels of power plants, private power producers want Coal India (CIL) to defer the special auctions planned for plants without sufficient fuel supply contracts. These auctions are conducted under the Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala (coal) Transparently in India (Shakti), which was implemented to ease supply constraints faced by power producers. As many as 10 plants with 8,346 MW capacity are eligible to participate in upcoming auctions. These include plants of Adani Power, KSK Energy, Bajaj Energy, GMR Energy.
Power producers said participation of bidders in the upcoming auction round, scheduled for May 8, might be restricted due to drying up of revenue inflows from state-run power distribution companies (discoms). Many discoms have served notices to power producers to back down their generation, and conducting coal auctions under such circumstances might leave out a number of plants with genuine need for fuel supply contracts, independent power producers claimed.
