‘Blending of imported coal with domestic may hike power cost by 30%’

Patiala, October 28

The All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF), in a letter to Union Power Minister RK Singh, has expressed concern that electricity cost may increase at least by 30 per cent due to the blending of imported coal with domestic coal.

The Union Ministry of Power has advised all coal-based thermal generating stations to maintain adequate coal stock according to their obligations. In the case of domestic coal shortage, the generators can blend the imported coal up to 15 per cent with domestic coal, to meet the increased power demand in the country, said VK Gupta, spokesperson of the federation.

The private generators are not covered under the CAG audit and they can manipulate the increase in tariff by forged documents, VK Gupta further added. The global prices of coal have increased which would make import a costly option. Moreover, the coal production in India has stagnated in the past three years while the demand is increasing every year. — TNS