The Hindu Business Line : Coal Ministry wants Rlys to bear losses in moving coal

Advertisement

New Delhi Feb 18 The Coal Ministry wants the Railways to bear losses in transit of coal to power stations in excess of a specified percentage.

The Ministry is proposing the insertion of such a clause in the tripartite agreement that is being hammered out among the three public sector units involved in coal-based power generation in the country.

According to a draft circulated by the Ministry of Coal, it has been proposed that if transit loss exceeds 0.5 per cent, it has to be borne by the Railways.

The draft has also suggested that transit loss for this purpose should be worked out rake-wise, based on the readings of the weighbridges of coal companies and also power plants. For this, the Railways would have to allow weighing of rakes at both the loading and unloading ends.

The loss percentage now being proposed by the Coal Ministry is also in line with the norms set by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) for transit losses in the context of fixing tariff for power generated by utilities.

Losses in transit of coal beyond this that are not made good by the transporter result in under-recovery of cost by the power utility.

The draft tripartite agreement is aimed at ensuring regularity and committed quantities of coal supplies to the power plants run by NTPC.

The draft that is under preparation seeks to spell out the responsibilities of the Railways in clear terms. The agreement would involve the purchaser, NTPC, the supplier, Coal India Ltd, and the transporting agency, the Railways.

The agreement aims to fix responsibility on the issues of quantity and quality of coal and timely delivery.

As per current practice, the Railways is completely absolved of any responsibility of ensuring 100 per cent delivery of the booked amount.

There have been many instances of rakes being diverted from one power plant to another, official sources said.

The power plants have complained on various occasions that the coal they have received is often 3-5 per cent less that what had been loaded by the coal companies, according to Coal India sources.

More Stories on : Coal | Railways | Power

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Smart phones losing elitist tag

Manufacturing sector clocks 13% growth: Survey

Small, mid-cap funds - heading for big space?

Duty rejig on petrol, diesel likely in Budget

Oil marketing cos blame State Govts for stalling ethanol programme

`Indian cos keen to tap Nepal's hydel potential'

Betting on sugar companies for other factors?

Selective taxation to curb inflation

Coal Ministry wants Rlys to bear losses in moving coal

Retail chains may be growth drivers for PCs

Toss-up between inflation, pre-Budget hopes for investors

`Small banks have a place amid consolidation trends'

SEBI norms to cover investment advisors soon