Coal India Ltd (CIL) has joined hands with Odisha Coal and Power Ltd (OCPL) for buying 6,000 tonnes per day from the Manoharpur captive mine of OCPL, owned by the Odisha government.

Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), the Odisha-based subsidiary of CIL, and OCPL have entered into an MoU for provisioning of excess coal from Manoharpur coal block to the miner, said a press statement issued by CIL.

Manoharpur and dip side of Manoharpur coal blocks with a production capacity of 8 million tonnes per annum were allocated to OCPL in August 2015 to supply coal to IB Thermal Power Plant owned by Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC).

Though coal production from Manoharpur block of OCPL has started, coal could not be reached to OPGC-owned IB Thermal Power Plant due to evacuation bottlenecks forcing OCPL to stop coal production.

MCL had stepped in to supply coal to OPGC through bridge linkage to the tune of 4.8 million tonnes per annum till the time production started from the block.

Bridge linkage is a short-term linkage to bridge the gap between requirement of coal of a specified end use plant and the start of production from the linked allotted coal block.

The MoU would not only help OCPL lower its stock pile and sell coal, but the company can also continue production from Manoharpur block. From CIL’s perspective, this excess coal received helps in enhancing coal supplies to its consumers, particularly for liquidating the arrear rakes of the non-power consumers, the release said.

The move is part of a series of measures pursued by the Centre to make more indigenous coal available in the country beyond CIL’s production.

Coal produced from coal blocks allocated by the government is usually used for captive consumption in the designated end use power plants. However, in a situation where the coal produced exceeds the requirement of the designated end use power plant, there is a provision in the Coal Mines Development and Production Agreement for supply of such excess coal to CIL. Coal India may in turn supply the coal thus received to its own customers thereby making more domestic coal available in the system to bridge the gap between demand and availability.

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