Consumers' Page

Issue faced by both Power and NRS Consumers:

1. Submission regarding refund of EMD against coal procured through different auctions:

Consumers from Power and Non-power sectors procuring coal from SECL were lift booked quantities till mid-October due to lack of production and adverse condition of coal evacuation infrastructure in certain mines of the Subsidiary such as Baroud, Chhal, Gevra, Dipka, Kusmunda. Request has been made to CIL and SECL so that the consumers are not penalised for shortlifting under the stated situation. Also, the EMD amounts submitted by the consumers may not be forfeited and kindly be refunded along with the coal value of unlifted quantity to the respective consumers.

Issues faced exclusively by Power Sector Consumers:

2. Requesting augmentation of coal supply to far-off (beyond 1400 kms) super-critical plants set up under

TPPs which fall under super-critical category set up under Section 63 of the Electricity Act and 100% power tied up with the state electricity boards are getting much lesser number of allotted rakes as per coal supply matrix which has led to severe depletion of coal stock at the plant ends. Hence, they are not able to generate power to their full capacity. The TPPs located at a distance of more than 1400 kilometers from the mines are already paying higher transportation costs. Request has been made to Ministry of Power to consider these super critical plants at par with central and state Gencos in terms of giving priority regarding sanctioning and dispatching of coal rakes and should be supplied with higher GCV coal in order to reduce the cost of power generation in line with the vision of affordable power tariff.

3. Submission by Power sector regarding regular and significant shortsupply from various mines of MCL:

The Utilities procuring coal from MCL’s Talcher, Sardega and IB Valley sidings under Linkage auction FSA have been regularly facing shortreceipt to the tune of 1.5%-2% in rakes during October’21 while in a few rakes supplied from Talcher and Sardega sidings on the same month, the extent of short-receipt ranges from 4%-5% to a maximum of 9%. Request has been made to CIL and MCL to take up necessary corrective measures so that the issue of short-supply may be addressed adequately.

4. Submission by Power Sector Consumers for refund of GST amount alongwith reimbursement of idle freight on account of underloading:

A number of CIL subsidiaries are providing refund against idle freight alongwith GST components charged by the Railways. However for consumers procuring coal from SECL, the refund of GST amount is not happening during the reimbursement provided for idle freight. Request has been made to CIL and SECL so that adequate measures may be taken at the earliest possible in order to provide reimbursement of GST amounts along with refund on account of underloading.

Issues faced exclusively by Non-Power Sector Consumers:

5. Requesting enhancement of supply of coal to NRS Consumers including CPPs by CIL:

In spite of regular requirement of coal for most of the NRS consumers, supply has been so scarce since the last few months that many of their plants are on the verge of closure. Supply by Rail mode to the Industries has been alarmingly low or halted from most of the CIL Subsidiaries. Also, Exclusive e-Auctions are hardly held at regular intervals and an insufficient quantity of coal is being offered through Spot e-Auctions by road mode causing the premiums on reserve price of coal in recent auctions to go higher. Request has been made to Ministry of Coal and CIL for ensuring sufficient supply of coal to the NRS consumers including CPPs. Also, CIL is urged to conduct Exclusive e-Auctions for the NRS consumers at the earliest possible across the Subsidiary coal companies especially by Rail mode. CIL is requested to continue supply of coal to the winning bidders of the Tranches till the next Tranche of Linkage Auction is held so that the consumers do not suffer due to discontinuation of coal supply

6. Request for supply of coal to NRS Consumers through Road mode and Road-cum-Rail (RcR) mode:

The lack of coal supply to the NRS Consumers has caused coal stock at many plants to drop at an extremely critical level. Apart from FSA consumers, rakes allotted to many successful bidders in the Spot e-Auctions held in September are not being released for the Non-power sector. Request has been made to CIL to change the mode of supply temporarily to Road mode as well as Road cum Rail (RcR) mode for the willing consumers from the Non-power sector so that certain amount of coal could be supplied for their plants’ sustenance

7. Submission by NRS consumers requesting extension of the term of Tranche-I NRS Linkage Auction FSAs expiring in 2021:

As per CIL directive, NRS Linkage auction FSAs of Tranche-I of various sub sectors will not be renewed after its initial term of five years. However, In order to run the manufacturing plants seamlessly, a continuous and assured supply of a specific quality of coal is necessary which can oly be obtained through Linkage Auctions as they are source-specific and mode-specific and ensure supply of a specific grade of coal. There is an uncertainty in procuring coal of required quantity and quality from a particular source through competitive bidding in the next tranche of linkage auction as and when it would be conducted. Also, Exclusive and Spot e-Auctions do not ensure assured supply of a specific grade of coal. Request has been made to MoC and CIL to consider the provision of extending the FSA term through mutual consent of both parties (CIL and the NRS consumers) as per clause 2.4 of the NRS Linkage Auction FSA.

8. Submission by NRS consumers with premature terminated Linkage Auction FSA to be permitted to participate in the ongoing Tranche (V):

Several NRS Consumers procuring coal under NRS Linkage auction FSAs from Tranche-I to Tranche IV had cancelled their FSAs within lock in period of two years for various reasons. Subsequently as per the FSA provision, large amount of security deposit made by those consumers have been forfeited by the concerned coal companies and may be also disqualified from participating in the immediately subsequent tranche of any auction for the non-regulated sector conducted by CIL. Considering the log gap between the last (Tranche IV) and ongoing (Tranche V) NRS Linkage Auction and the financial penalty these consumers are facing, request has been made to CIL not to restrict the consumers from participating in the ongoing NRS Linkage auction for CPP and Other Sub-sectors (Tranche-V).

9. Request for approval of interplant transfer of coal for the NRS consumers:

Halted and sluggish movement in supply of coal from various CIL Subsidiaries has led to an unprecedented coal crisis in the Non-regulated Sector. Request has been made to the concerned authorities to allow interplant transfer of coal for the same group of companies (within different units of the same organisation) for higher capacity plants in the Non-power sector in line with the power sector. Any particular plant of an organisation has a reasonable amount of coal stock, this organisation may request the quantity to be supplied to another plant within the same group of company with almost no coal stock in order to save those plants from imminent shutdown.