GoI okays coal supply of one lac tonne for first unit of 700 MW Rajpura TPP

Chandigarh, July 15, 2013: Affirming the readiness of the L&T Thermal Power Plant (TPP) at Rajpura to commence power generation, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), GoI has confirmed the supply of one lac tonne of coal for the trial run of its first unit (700 MW), slated to be made operational during January, 2014. Some time back a similar confirmation of readiness had been made by CEA for the trial run of the first unit (660 MW) of the Sterlite group's power plant near Talwandi Sabo, to be made operational in September 2013.
Disclosing this here today, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that the Chief Engineer, Operation Monitoring Division of CEA has asked the Coal India Limited (CIL) to supply the aforesaid quantity of coal to the Rajpura and Talwandi Sabo TPPs in order to carry out the pre-commissioning/synchronisation activities, coal for carpeting, trial run etc.
It was also informed that, on the personal intervention of the Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, the Ministry of Power, GoI has also acceded to his request by issuing a notification asking Coal India Ltd. to sign Fuel Supply Agreements (FSA) to include the Unit-1 of Talwandi Sabo TPP and Unit-1 of Rajpura TPP for 2013-14 besides Talwandi Sabo TPP unit 2&3 and Rajpura TPP Unit 2 for 2014-15. Earlier, the Ministry of Power (CEA) had not included fuel linkage and signing of FSA (Fuel Supply Agreement) for Talwandi Sabo Unit 2&3 and Rajpura unit 2 in the year 2014-15 and had pushed them to 2015-16.
This landmark decision assumes paramount significance at this crucial juncture especially in the wake of ever increasing demand of power in the state. To tide over the gulf between the demand and supply of power, the GoI’s directive to the CIL for assured supply of coal to these plants would not only pave a way for the timely power generation to augment its supply on one hand and also silence the opposition for spreading malicious propaganda against the state government’s concerted efforts to make Punjab, self-reliant in the power sector. With the assured supply of coal to the upcoming thermal plants in Punjab, the state government was zeroing in to achieve its ultimate goal of generating additional power of 3920 MW, spokesperson added.