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As Nalco faces an acute shortage of coal at its smelter plant in Angul and the company's captive power plant, Mahanadi Coalfield Ltd (MCL) on Thursday said that the aluminium major should arrange for transportation of the dry fuel beyond the rail mode to build up its coal stock.
The MCL’s reaction came a day after Odisha’s Steel and Mines Minister Prafulla Kumar Mallick said that the state government would hold discussions with the authorities of the Nalco and also the MCL over coal supply.
The MCL in a statement said that the company has sufficient coal stock of 16.5 million tonnes available for dispatch to meet the current requirement of its consumers.
The company, which had registered a record growth of 14 per cent in production and 21 per cent in the dispatch of coal during the 2021-22 financial year, has been successful in bridging the demand-supply gap of dry fuel in the country, the statement claimed.
Referring to media reports on coal scarcity at Nalco’s smelter plant in Angul, the MCL clarified that according to an agreement, the latter is bound to supply 47.16 lakh tonnes linkage coal and 9 lakh tonnes of bridge linkage coal annually, which is around 15,500 tonnes per day.
However, the plant at Angul had been supplied 53.9 lakh tonnes of coal from MCL during 2021-22 fiscal, against FSA (flexible spending agreement), bridge linkage, and e-auction combined, the statement said.
Merry-Go-Round system
Pointing out that the Angul plant of NALCO primarily takes coal from MCL through a dedicated MGR (Merry-Go-Round) system in the Bharatpur area in Talcher coalfields, the MCL noted that additionally they (Nalco) also have options to lift coal through rail, road as well as road-cum-MGR modes to supplement their supplies.
The MGR system dedicated to the Angul plant recorded an average dispatch of only 5,900 tonnes a day during the last fiscal.
Considering the operational data of the MGR system, which is 30-year-old and reports frequent breakdowns, MCL has proposed to take up the system for a major overhaul to improve dispatch if NALCO agrees to discontinuation of supplies from this system during renovation and adopts any other mode of transportation since the Angul plant is located at a distance of only 20 km from MCL mines.
The MCL also said that being a pithead plant, NALCO, Angul should prioritise the lifting of coal through MGR and road transport.
In the 2021-22 fiscal, only three lakh tonnes in bridge linkage was booked in road mode.
“Had NALCO booked via road mode the remaining six lakh tonne in bridge linkage and the shortfall quantity in FSA, sufficient coal stock would have been available at its Angul plant,” the MCL clarified.
Coal transportation
While all the non-power sector customers are being allocated coal up to the minimum committed level as per FSA (trigger level), the MCL said it has been offering 100 per cent of the Monthly Agreed Quantity (MAQ) of coal to NALCO under bridge linkage, as a special measure to specifically support the aluminium major.
“NALCO should also think innovatively to improve the lifting of coal from MCL, in view of the rising demand of coal at the national level and constraints in getting rakes beyond a certain level,” the MCL said in the statement.
During 2021-22, the transportation of coal through road mode by NALCO’s Angul plant had dropped to a daily average of fewer than 700 tonnes while on earlier occasions it used to lift a maximum of 9,000 tonnes in a day.
Besides, MCL has also offered NALCO to lift coal through MGR wharf wall siding, which is lying unutilised. It can help in the transportation of 3,000 tonnes of coal per day.
In view of the low stock at many powerhouses and considering the availability of rakes, dispatches via rail mode have been prioritised for powerhouses, especially the distant ones, where the supply of coal through alternate modes is not feasible, the MCL said.
Apart from its smelter at Angul, the NALCO’s refinery plant at Damanjodi, located 700 km from MCL mines, has a linkage of 10.2 lakh tonnes.
“An average of one rake per day could be loaded from MCL during February and March 2022, thereby meeting the requirement of the plant and achieving more than 100 per cent supply materialisation and liquidation of arrear,” the MCL said.
During FY 21-22, the total supply to Damanjodi plant was 11.3 lakh tonnes in FSA and e- auction combined.
However, it could have been augmented, had NALCO continued lifting some quantity under Road-cum-Rail (RCR) mode regularly.
MCL has suggested NALCO to make arrangements for lifting dry fuel via RCR for the Damanjodi plant to build coal stock considering the increased energy demand.
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