Odisha Thermal Power Corporation Ltd

The scope of work includes master planning of the entire project and construction of 1,600 residential units, external amenities, infrastructure services and other developmental works

The 2400 Mw coal-based power plant proposed by Odisha Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (OTPCL), an Odisha government PSU has supposedly gone into a blind alley with no suitable coal block in sight.The Ministry of Coal (MoC) had originally allocated the Tentuloi coal block in favour of OTPCL with reserves of 1200 million tonne. But Tentuloi being an underground block was tough to extract and posed the risk of escalating the cost of power production. The Odisha government has been making repeated pleas to the ministry to allocate an alternative block. The state government had even offered to surrender the Tentuloi block so that OTPCL becomes eligible for a new coal block under the PSU dispensation route."The Coal ministry had offered two alternative blocks to meet OTPCL's requirement. But, even those blocks have high stripping ratios that would make coal extraction difficult and expensive. Now, the ministry is hesitant to award any other block", said a state government official.Responding .

The Ministry of Coal (MoC) has agreed to Odisha's proposal to allocate an alternative coal block to Odisha Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (OPTCL) for its 2400 Mw coal-based power plant proposed near Dhenkanal. OPTCL is a 50:50 joint venture (JV) between Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) and Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC).Earlier, MoC had provided the Tentuloi coal block for the OTPCL project. But Tentuloi being an underground coal block was unsuitable for the power project despite its reserves of 1234 million tonne (mnt). The Odisha government has been repeatedly appealing to the MoC to scrap the Tentuloi block and, instead, offer an alternative block to cater to OTPCL's requirement.During a recent meeting with Coal minister Piyush Goyal, Odisha's energy minister Pranab Prakash Das reiterated the demand for an alternative coal block to OTPCL.Being an underground coal reserve, Tentuloi block is very difficult to mine. Most of the reserve is below 900 metre depth. Even with the use .