Coal India has been asked to sign 20-year supply contracts
with power plants that will be commissioned by March 2015 and also with those
plants that already have power purchase agreements with the distribution
companies, a statement from the PMO said.
Grappling with erratic coal supplies, power producers led by
Mr Ratan Tata and Mr Anil Ambani recently met the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan
Singh, seeking his intervention to sort out coal-shortage issues. This decision
is the outcome of the meeting of the Committee of Secretaries set up by the PMO
to look into the power sector woes.
For power plants commissioned up to December 2011, Coal
India will sign the FSAs before March 31, 2012.
The last such agreement signed was in April 2009 after the
state-run entity said it could supply only 50 per cent of the required
quantity.
Coal India will get incentives for meeting 90 per cent of
the committed supplies as per the letter of assurance (LoAs). On the other
hand, the company will face penalties if it fails to supply 80 per cent of the
committed quantity.
In case of any shortfall in fulfilling its commitment under
the FSAs from its own production, Coal India will arrange for supply through
imports or through arrangement with State/Central PSUs that have been allotted
coal blocks.
Leave a Reply