NTPC’s ambitious plan to move coal from high seas to its generating station at Farakka via the inland waterways faces hurdles with an arbitration award of Rs 2,000 crore being slapped against it.
The arbitration under Justice Vikramjit Sen, Justice BP Singh and Justice Anil Kumar slapped the penalty since NTPC failed to lift the minimum guaranteed quantity for consecutive two years.
NTPC, Jindal ITF, the infrastructure arm of Jindal SAW, and Inland Waterways Authority of India, had signed a tripartite agreement in 2013, which entailed commitments of 3 million tonne of supply of coal to NTPC’s Farakka plant for seven years.