Considering the growing requirement of coal for thermal power stations, the State government is planning to undertake coal mining in Maharashtra.
G. Kumar Naik, managing director, Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd. (KPCL), told presspersons here on Saturday that four coal blocks at Barang in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra had been allocated to KPCL by the Union government.
“Coal mining by a State-owned undertaking is on the cards. We will discuss the matter with the Chief Minister and take a final call... Deocha-Pachami is the largest coal mine in the country. As it is far away from Karnataka, we had requested the Union government to allot an alternative mine,” he said.
Responding to a query, Mr. Naik said that six State-owned power supply companies and Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd. owe around Rs. 14,000 crore to KPCL. “The government will take a decision on the matter. Despite financial constraints, KPCL has not stepped back from its corporate social responsibility initiatives,” he said.
To a question, Mr. Naik said that the thermal power stations in the State were effectively handling fly ash as per the guidelines by the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests.
“Around 80 per cent of the fly ash being generated by our thermal power stations is being used at various industries,” he said.
Mr. Naik said that commercial power generation at one of the two units of Yermarus Thermal Power Station (YTPS), with an installed capacity of 800 MW, would start by the first week of October.
“Unit-1 at YTPS is ready for commercial power generation. We can, however, announce its commercial generation only when it generates 800 MW of power for 72 hours without any interruption. I hope that we will announce it in the first week of next month,” he said.
The commercial generation from unit-2, which has the same installed capacity of 800 MW, is expected to begin in the first week of November, he added.
