Trade unions in the power sector have alleged that recent directions and statements of the Centre related to the import of coal for thermal power generation are contradictory, misguiding, deceitful and against the interest of the energy consumers, people and the nation.
All India Coal Workers’ Federation (AICWF) and Electricity Employees Federation of India (EEFI), the two federations comprised of several unions in power and coal mining sectors, said on Friday that these moves favour one or two private companies. The federations are also mulling legal action against the Centre’s decision.
Contradictory circular
What irked the unions is a circular on September 1 by the Ministry of Power directing all Domestic Coal Based (DCB) power generation companies (Central, State and Independent) to mandatorily import and blend 4% coal through open bidding process till March 31, 2024. The circular reasoned that the supply of coal is not commensurate with requirement. But unions argue that the Coal Ministry, on the other hand, said in a press release on September 5 that the country has adequate coal to meet increasing energy demand.
The Coal Ministry said the coal dispatch to the power sector amounted to 324.50 Metric Tonnes in this financial year marking a noteworthy growth of 5.80% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, which stood at 306.70 MT. “This substantial increase ensures a consistent and robust coal supply to meet the energy needs of the power sector,” the Ministry claimed.
The unions said the Power Ministry circular is contradictory, misguiding, deceitful, and against the interest of the energy consumers, people and the nation as a whole. “We urge conscious people of our country to recall that in April 2022, India was pushed towards acute power shortage due to alleged unavailability of coal supplies and Modi government ordered GENCOs to import coal for 10% blending before July 2022. Whereas during the same period, the ruling Government claimed in the Rajya Sabha that there was no shortage of coal in the country,” the unions argued.
NTPC’s profits fall
The unions said imported fuel cost went up ₹ 7-8 per unit in comparison to the ₹ 2 per unit cost from domestic Coal India Ltd. “Strikingly our Public sector flagship Power Producer NTPC has reported more than 7% dip in its consolidated net profit for the September 2022 quarter due to the cost of this imported coal,” they added.
They said while the Power Ministry is claiming that there may be 7 MT deficit of coal for power generation during October 2023 to March 2024, it is ordering import of around 20 MT. “Note that, the share of steam coal imports from Australia was insignificant until 2020 and shot up to 13% in 2022,” the Unions said adding that the Adani Carmichael coal mine of Queensland, Australia produced its first shipment of coal in December 2021.
“The whole plot is distrustful and deceiving. We can’t restrain ourselves from questioning and opposing these obnoxious anti-people policies and directions. We demand that the Central government disclose names of the groups playing a vital and determining role in these decisions and policies in making. If Government of Bharat fails to answer, People of India will rise to the occasion,” the Unions said adding that the entire blue-print of coal crisis is nothing but a coal scam.
They argued that the whole burden of higher prices for electricity that is based on imported coal will be imposed upon consumers. which will cause a tariff shock. “It will impact our foreign currency reserve and current account balance badly,” they claimed.
