AP to import 10 L tonne coal

Velagapudi (Guntur district): The state government is going to import 31 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of coal as per the guidelines issued by the Centre to overcome the energy crisis in the state, said energy minister Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy while addressing a review meeting of the energy department with the officials at the Secretariat here on Thursday.

There has been coal shortage across the country since October and the core committee of the energy ministers, coal and railway departments have been meeting from time to time to take certain decisions. In one of such meetings, it has been decided to import 10 per cent of coal necessary for the power plants from foreign countries.

As in the case of all power plants across the country, the power plants in Andhra Pradesh had coal stocks for two or three days only, the minister admitted. "The power plants have been stocking and using the coal stocks sent by the Central government," he added.

The minister said that there was a stipulation that the power plants should store coal stocks for at least 21 days. However, the Coal India is not in a position to supply coal as per the demand and the Central government is also sending coal to the state.

As per the estimation of the energy department, the energy department would supply electricity as per the demand from June to September. However, the demand is likely to grow during September and October due to kharif season and other reasons. The minister suggested that the officials might increase power generation, and acquire enough power from power generating companies across the state. Efforts should be made to start the third unit at the Krishnapatnam power plant, the minister said.

Energy secretary B Sridhar, APTransco JMD I Prithvitej, deputy secretary Kumar Reddy, Transco director K Muttu Pandyan, CMDs of Discoms Haranatha Rao, J Padma Janardhana Reddy and K Santosh Rao and others were present.