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The Central government-controlled power sector lenders, Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), have sanctioned short-term loans of ₹17,824.5 crore to State power utilities for purchasing coal, Parliament was informed on Thursday.
Of the total amount sanctioned, which is for FY23 and FY24, the two key funding agencies of the Centre have disbursed ₹12,971.5 crore so far to State power utilities in Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka, Rajasthan and West Bengal.
“Various State utilities are approaching REC to sanction the loans. REC has provided loan assistance to various utilities for procurement of coal,” Power Minister R K Singh said in a written response to a query in Lok Sabha.
Besides, PFC has a policy, which prescribes sanction of short-term loans to State power plants requiring working capital to buy coal, subject to compliance of additional prudential norms prescribed by the Power Ministry, he added.
During FY23 and FY24, PFC sanctioned loans to various State gencos for procurement of coal, the Minister informed the Lok Sabha.
Sufficient coal reserves
Indicating that coal reserves at thermal power plants (TPPs) in the country are sufficient, Singh pointed out that stocks available at 180 domestic coal-based (DCB) plants was 34.6 million tonnes (mt) as of March 31.
While on July 17, it was 33.4 mt, which is sufficient to run these plants for an average of 13 days at 85 per cent Plant Load Factor (PLF), he noted.
As of July 26, the coal stocks at DCB power plants (185.2 gigawatts capacity) stood at 32.63 mt against a daily requirement of 2.6 mt, as per the National Power Portal. The reserves at imported coal-based plants (17.3 gigawatts) was around 2.2 mt against a daily requirement of 0.17 mt.
The PLF of coal- and lignite-based power plants of 25 Megawatt (MW) and above capacity during FY23 was 64.15 per cent. In FY24, the demand for electricity has increased and power plants are generating the electricity as per schedule given to them. The PLF for such coal- and lignite-based power plants in FY24 (up to June 2023) is around 70.02 per cent.
“Further, the coal stock at 57 State sector plants as on July 17 is 9.6 mt, which is sufficient to run these plants for an average of 10 days at 85 per cent PLF. So, there is no shortage of coal in State sector plants,” Singh pointed out.
The Minister explained that power utilities have been importing coal considering their requirement as well as cost-economics.
The Power Ministry, on January 9, directed all Central and State gencos and independent power producers to take necessary action to import coal for blending, where necessary, through a transparent competitive procurement, so as to have sufficient stock at their power plants for smooth operations till September 2023, he added.
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