The State Government has accused the Centre of adopting a "discriminatory" approach in allocation of coalmines, saying that State PSUs have been ignored while power major NTPC is allotted four mines despite its poor show.
The State Government’s reaction came a fortnight after the Centre allocated 14 coalmines to the State and Central PSUs. Energy Minister Arun Kumar Sahoo, in a letter to Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal, has demanded reexamination of the allocation process to "provide justice" by allocating the Chandrabila coal block to State PSU OPGC.
Sahoo has also made it clear that it would be very difficult for the State to support "other State and Central entities at the cost of its own State companies", pleading for mine allotment to the Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC), which is in the process of setting up a 4X660 MW power plant.
"In spite of repeated requests and recommendations from the State Government for allocation of coal blocks in Odisha to local PSUs, the (Union) Ministry has decided to allot coal blocks within Odisha to other State PSUs and NTPC without considering the already allocated seven coal blocks to the NTPC and several coal blocks to other State PSUs and their failure to produce coal," Sahoo said.
Alleging that allocation of only one mine to the OPGC is a "total injustice to the State, especially being a host State", Sahoo’s letter said, "Despite NTPC's poor performance, the Ministry has allotted a total of four blocks to NTPC.”
Sahoo has mentioned that earlier the Ministry had deallocated five coal blocks to the NTPC, and in June this year, a show-cause notice was slapped on it for its failure to develop two blocks.
The letter said that while coal blocks have been allocated to all eligible PSUs recommended by the Union Ministry of Power, CEA and CMPDI, only OPGC has been excluded following a totally discriminatory approach. The same yardstick has not been applied to other PSUs. "This attitude of the Ministry is very disturbing, disappointing and unjust to the State of Odisha," it said.
Pleading the case for mines allocation to the OPGC, the letter said the Manoharpur coal blocks allotted to it have insufficient reserves to meet its expansion plans at a time when the State is facing an unprecedented rise in demand for power due to industrial and social development.