Reacting to the claims of Union Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goel that there was “no low coal supply” Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said here on Sunday that many thermal power units in the state have been closed down because of paucity of coal plummeting power generation forcing officials to go for roistering all across the state.
In series of tweets Yadav said that IPP Rosa-300 MW was closed down due to coal shortage and a lANCO unit of Anpara is on verge of closure from tomorrow due coal shortage.In another tweet he said: “Sate Outage: due to coal shortages Parichha-3-210 mw (thermal power plant), Anpara is being supplied 8000 MT/day instead of reqt. (requirement) of 28000 MT/day from past 3 days.”
The statement contradicts the claims of Goyal who said coal based power output has gone up by 22 per cent in the last 100 days. The Uttar Pradesh Government has been raising the issue of paucity of coal that is affecting power generation in the state for the last one month or so. The Akhilesh Yadav Government has written many letters to Union Government asking it to supply good quality coal so that thermal units could operate efficiently.
On Sunday, Chief Minister again reminded the Union Government about the letters it had written to Goyal’s ministry time and again. Yadav wrote in one of his tweets: letters have been written to Govt. Of India for coal allocation to the power units. Response awaited on them.”The Uttar Pradesh Government in its earlier letters said that the state was not getting its allotted central quota of power. The Samajwadi Party leaders have been saying that even if state gets its allotted quota of electricity the problem could be mitigated to an extent.
During peak hour the state needs 13,000 MW of electricity while it has just 10,000 MW of electricity at its disposal. Yadav says in another tweet that on Sunday 7th Sept, Total net allocation from central sector is 5863 MW, Today present average schedule is 3972 MW. Difference 1891 MW in supply.Showing its commitment to ensure regular supply fo electricity Yadav said due to this coal shortage UP Govt has bought 17 MU of power from power exchanges for tomorrow to stop any further inconvenience to public.
Elaborating that Uttar Pradesh has never been a defaulter in coal payment Chairman and Managing Director, Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation limited (UPPCl) Sanjay Agarwal said in a tweet: Supply of coal is never cut based on dues. They are regularly paid.