BHUBANESWAR: Even as the State is reeling under power crisis and thermal power stations are facing acute shortage of coal, the arbitrary hike in price of thermal grade coal by the Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) has added to the problem.While six other subsidiaries of the Coal India Limited (CIL) have kept thermal power, defence and fertiliser sectors out of the purview of price hike, it was only MCL which has increased the price of all grades of coal. Ironically, the hike was effected after fixation of power tariff by the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission. Though the State Government protested the hike, the Union Coal Ministry is yet to issue necessary instructions to the CIL subsidiary to roll back the price hike. The MCL argued that hike was necessary in view of the increase in production cost. But it had made an operational profit of `4,000 cr in 2010-11 and the profit after tax was Rs 2,600 cr. “The hike in price of thermal grade coal by MCL shows the profiteering motive of the company at the expense of the State,” remarked Minister of State for Energy Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak. Mostly E, F and G grades coal are used in thermal power generation and the three grades are available abundantly in the State. MCL has increased the price of E grade coal by 21 per cent, F grade by 19 per cent and G grade by 23 per cent. The average hike in price of thermal grade coals is 21 per cent. The coal production cost in the State is much cheaper compared to other States as most of the coal mines are open cast, Nayak said, adding the MCL jacked up the price to cover up its inefficiency. “MCL has miserably failed to meet the coal demand of the thermal power stations and other industries having captive power plants. The State-owned Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC) had to import coal through Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation (MMTC) a couple of months ago to meet its coal requirement,” the Minister said. The OPGC is currently facing coal shortage for its Ib thermal power stations, he said. Two-thirds of power requirement of the State comes from thermal sector. Twenty per cent hike in the coal price will substantially increase the cost of energy. Gridco, the State power trading corporation, is now buying costly thermal power from the Central sectors and other sources to meet the crisis situation.
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