The Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation (APGENCO) has responded to former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s allegations over purchasing coal from Singareni at a high price, claiming that a cheaper option was available at Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL). Targeting the Andhra government over frequent power cuts, Naidu had on Thursday alleged that the government was buying coal at a much higher price.
In an official statement, APGENCO Managing Director B Sreedhar has stated that the state government has been procuring additional coal from Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) since as early as 2014, as the coal linkage amount allocated from MCL has been insufficient for the Dr Narla Tata Rao Thermal Power Station (Dr NTTPS) in Vijayawada. According to the statement, the linkage from MCL to Dr NTTPS is 8.312 MTPA (million tonnes per annum), while the requirement of the station is 10 MTPA. Besides, only 60 to 70% of the linkage quantity was materialising each year from MCL, the statement said.
“Since the state bifurcation, linkage has been given to Dr NTTPS only from MCL. We usually get only about 60 to 70 percent of the coal, so to bridge the gap, we are procuring from Singareni,” APGENCO Thermal Power Director G Chandrasekhar Raju told TNM.
According to the statement, APGENCO had bought coal from Singareni for the years 2014-15 and 2015-16 at the weighted average e-auction price. From 2016-17, onwards, the energy corporation entered an MoU with SCCL, after which it began to pay an additional amount of 20 per cent of the basis price for power sector, over the notified price. From 2018-19 onwards, the additional price is calculated as 20 per cent of basis price for the non-power sector.
This pricing follows the New Coal Distribution Policy (NCDP) of Union Ministry of Coal, Chandrasekhar said, adding that the same pricing was followed during the previous TDP government as well.
Even in 2016-17, the MoU signed with SCCL was for 50 lakh MT, which is the same as the amount for which the 2019-20 MoU was signed, the statement said.
On Thursday, Naidu had tweeted about frequent power cuts in Andhra Pradesh, saying, “Power Purchase Agreements were maligned even though solar and wind power was available at Rs 3 to 4.84 per unit. Is it not malicious to now purchase energy at Rs 11.68 per unit? What can one say when the price of coal at Mahanadi Coal Mines is Rs 1,600 per tonne, and they’re buying it from Singareni at Rs 3,700 per tonne?”
పవర్ పర్చేజ్ అగ్రిమెంట్ల (పిపిఏ)పై దుష్ప్రచారం చేసి సోలార్, విండ్ పవర్ యూనిట్ ధర రూ.3 నుంచి రూ.4.84కే వస్తుంటే, శ్రద్ధ పెట్టకుండా ఇప్పుడు రూ.11.68కు విద్యుత్ కొనడం దుర్మార్గపు చర్య కాదా? మహానది కోల్ మైన్స్ లో టన్ను ధర రూ.1600 ఉంటే, సింగరేణిలో రూ.3,700కు కొనడాన్ని ఏమనాలి?
— N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) October 3, 2019
“There is no minimum awareness of keeping coal reserves handy as a precautionary measure. How should one comprehend this act of pushing villages and people into darkness through power shortage, without seeking alternatives, and increasing financial burden on the state?” Naidu had added.
However, the APGENCO Thermal Power Director said that the cost of Rs 3,700 at Singareni includes the additional costs as per the NCDP as well as transport costs, while the cost of Rs 1,600 at MCL is only the base price.
The YSRCP government under Jagan Mohan Reddy has claimed that the DISCOMs (power distribution companies) in the state were going through a financial crisis and one of the main reasons for this was the higher tariffs in the wind and solar PPAs, seeking to withdraw 21 PPAs with renewable energy companies.
Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy, RK Singh, had earlier written to the state government requesting not to cancel the agreements, but Jagan had remained defiant, saying, “We have inherited a bankrupt exchequer with a huge deficit of Rs 2.62 lakh crore, the DISCOMs’ unpaid generator dues of Rs 20,000 crore and accumulated losses of DISCOMs of Rs 15,000 crore.”