Inter-Ministerial panel on coal linkages to meet next month

NEW DELHI: An inter-ministerial panel is likely to meet next month to review the status of existing coal linkages to sectors including power.

"The meeting of the Standing Linkage Committee (Long-Term) for power, sponge and other sectors, will be held on December 10 to review the status of the existing milestones by the existing LoA (Letter of Assurance) holders in power, sponge and cement sector and other items relating to existing coal linkage," an official said.

The development comes at a time when state-own Coal India (CIL) has signed fuel supply pacts with the power producer for a capacity of 70,400 MW of the total 78,000 MW.

Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal had earlier said that the remaining fuel supply agreements (FSAs) would be signed once the technical glitches are addressed.

Amid continuous delays, the Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) had earlier said that timelines for signing of fuel supply pacts for power projects of 78,000 MW capacity should be met.

Two deadlines set for signing of the fuel supply agreements by Coal India (CIL) with the power producers could not be adhered to.

The Coal Ministry had earlier set the deadline of August 31 for signing of the FSAs which could not be met. Further, the second deadline of September 6 was also not achieved.

According to the new Fuel Supply Agreements, Coal India will supply 65 per cent of the contracted amount for fuel from domestic sources and another 15 per cent will be done through imports with pass-on pricing model.

Meanwhile, CIL has recently tweaked the provision pertaining to the settlement of disputes in the model fuel supply agreements for the existing and new state-owned power utilities.