Joshi assures sufficient coal supply to state

Union Coal Minister Prahlad Joshi promised Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Sunday that he would try to address the shortage of coal in the state’s thermal power stations on a priority basis.

When Kumaraswamy called on Joshi here on Saturday, the minister said he was aware of the coal shortage problem faced by thermal plants in Karnataka. Despite the court cases in the matter, the Coal Ministry would ensure that the power plants do not have coal shortage. Joshi asked his ministry officials and state government officials to discuss the issue and resolve it.

The chief minister said the present coal stocks in Raichur Thermal Power Station, Bellary Thermal Power Station and Yermarus Thermal Power Station had reached the critical stage. The Western Coalfields Limited and Singareni Coallieries Company Limited were not able to supply coal as per annual linkage quantity, he said.

In 2018-19, all three thermal power stations had received oly 39.89 lakh tonnes of coal against the annual linkage quantity of 119.55 lakh tonnes, the chief minister said in his memorandum to the coal minister.

With the state facing severe drought and demand for power increasing during summer, the Centre must ensure sufficient supply of coal to the state, Kumaraswamy said.