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Chief minister Naveen Patnaik has reiterated his demand to Narendra Modi for allocation of two coal blocks to state-run mining— PSU Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) and an alternative block for Odisha Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (OTPCL).
"I met the Prime Minister and sought his intervention on a number of issues including two coal blocks for OMC and allocation of more coal blocks for the non-regulated sectors. I have also called for early initiation of the bidding process of the Bhedabahal UMPP (ultra mega power project). Odisha stressed on the need of clean environment cess to be shared between the Centre and the state government in the ratio of 60:40", said Patnaik.
The state government has been demanding a commercial coal block for OMC. There are 56 captive power plants (CPPs) of iron and steel, and aluminium industries in the state with installed capacity of more than 6310 Mw.
Besides, the annual requirement of coal for sponge iron units alone, excluding the CPPs is estimated to be at least 30 million tonne per annum. The coal requirement of these end-use industries is expected to increase in the coming years with their expansion and commencement of production by more units.
For a 50:50 joint venture between OMC and Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC), an alternative coal block was needed as the Tentuloi block being an underground block was difficult to mine. The state government had requested for surrender of this block and demanded an alternate coal block to cater to OTPCL's 2400 Mw (3x800) power plant proposed at Kamakhyanagar near Dhenkanal.
Odisha is also worried over the slow pace of implementation of the Bhedabahal UMPP.
"The UMPP was supposed to be taken up on a fast track mode for which Odisha as the host state has already contributed Rs 350 crore as sought by the project proponents of UMPP. However, the progress for development of UMPP is rather slow, even when all the requisite support is provided by the state government", Patnaik said in his recent letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The UMPP proposed to generate 4000 Mw power is estimated to cost Rs 30,000 crore. The UMPP is structured to be developed through two special purpose vehicles (SPVs)- Odisha Integrated Power Ltd (OIPL) and Odisha Infra Power Ltd, both being subsidiaries of Power Finance Corporation (PFC), the nodal agency for implementation of UMPPs in the country.
