 "NTPC says miner misled media on coal quality test")
NTPC said the miner had misled the media by using a fake sample to establish compliance with quality standards.
The government has now set up five teams of specialists to dig out the truth, in an effort to resolve the logjam that had led to NTPC blocking a Rs 1,000-crore payment to CIL.
The coal miner had yesterday said a joint sample testing done showed that, unlike NTPC’s claims, the gross calorific value (GCV) received at NTPC’s plants was higher than the GCV during loading at Eastern Coalfields (ECL) mines. NTPC has trashed this view on three counts: The sample testing was carried out only to align the testing equipment of both the parties and not to test the coal quality; the sample was collected unilaterally by ECL; and the tested sample was not the one that was to be tested.
Coal India immediately responded by strongly rejecting the three arguments.
A senior NTPC executive told Business Standard: “They (CIL) are misleading the media by highlighting only the result of the non-representative sample, which was tested by a bomb calorimeter, also at NTPC end in good faith, with the sole intention of calibrating the calorimeter recently procured by ECL with the one at the NTPC laboratory. The sample was unilaterally collected by ECL. In respect of joint samples, the GCV was either very low or ECL was not willing to conduct joint testing.”
In a test on April 5, CIL said, the GCV at the Rajmahal mines was 3,915 kilocalories per kilogram (kcal per kg) and the GCV at the Kahalgaon mines was 4,000 kcal per kg. A second sample test was carried out on April 6, which put GCV at the receiving end at 4,345 kcal per kg.
NTPC on Tuesday confirmed the findings of the April 5 test, but said they only validated the results at both ends. However, in the test conducted on April 6, sample was collected by NTPC and CIL officials jointly. “The sample yielded result as low as 1,660 kcal per kg. This result was not signed by ECL and, hence, the sample could not be brought to NTPC laboratory for revalidation,” the NTPC executive said.
The next day, the official said, a joint sample was collected but no ECL official came for testing. After senior ECL officials intervened, testing began at 9 pm. But at midnight, ECL said the bomb calorimeter had stopped functioning.
NTPC also shared a startling set of data which showed how the difference in GCV received at 15 of its plants varied from 300 kcal to as high as 2,500 kcal per kg between October and January this financial year.
CIL, however, said there wasn’t an iota of truth in the three arguments of NTPC. “If the test was carried out only for calibration, how did the NTPC official sign the results? Also, there is no question of ECL collecting sample unilaterally because joint sampling was the condition on which we resumed their supplies on April 4,” a senior ECL official directly dealing with the matter told Business Standard.
He added there was no need for calibrating the bomb calorimeter, as NTPC claims, it was already commissioned a month ago. The ECL official also said NTPC was making up the story of bomb calorimeter breaking down on April 7, as ECL has two such equipment at its disposal. “Even if one breaks down, the other one will function,” he said.
Meanwhile, the government has set up five teams of specialists, headed by Central Electricity Authority officials. The teams, comprising officials of CIL and of power utilities as members, will visit selected stations and mines to assess the testing facilities. SCRAPPING OVER MINERAL
THE ISSUE
- NTPC complains vast difference in quality of coal received and that billed for; blames CIL for supplying stones
- Stops payments to the miner; outstanding dues swell to Rs 1,000 crore
- CIL stops supplies, forcing NTPC to shut two large units, affecting 4,500 Mw
- CIL misled by using 'non-representative' sample to establish compliance with quality standards
- Sample test carried out only to align testing equipment, not to test coal quality
- Sample was collected unilaterally by ECL and did not represent one that was to be used for testing
- Another test brought down GCV to 1,600 kcal, confirming NTPC’s claim before bomb calorimeter broke down
WHAT CIL SAYS
- If test done only for calibration, how did the NTPC official sign the results?
- Eastern Coalfields could not have collected sample unilaterally as joint sampling was the condition for resuming supplies on April 4
- If sample was really fake, how did NTPC officials take it to their lab for testing?
- Stands by its findings that GCV jumped to 4,300 kcal at NTPC end, against 3,915 kcal at CIL mines