OMC to float Company to bid for Coal Blocks

Odisha government has been planning to float a coal mining company to participate in the auction of 12 coal blocks located in the state.

These blocks have total coal reserve of 6,800 million tonne, and Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC), state Public Sector Undertaking (PSU), will float a fully-owned subsidiary to participate in the auction.

The 12 coal block to be auctioned are Manoharpur, Dipside Manoharpur, Baitarani East, Baitarani West, Chhendipada I, Chhendipada II, Machhakata, Mahanadi, Naini, New Patrapada, Rampia and Dipside Rampia.

To fulfill the coal requirement of 150 million tonne per annum for the upcoming power plants, the state government urged the central coal ministry to allocate coal blocks.

The state government estimated that coal reserve of 6,800 million tonne is required to generate 51,440MW power from – state PSU power plants and Independent Power Producers (IIPs).

The state PSU power plants will generate 14,220 MW and the IIPs will generate 37,220 MW. The officials said that, the coal reserve of 150 million tonne per annum will meet 90 per cent of PSU power plant and 50 per cent of IIPs, coal requirement.

In order to develop high capacity mega coal projects in these coal blocks, the new Odisha coal mining PSU may form joint venture with central government-run mining firms for technical support.

The central government allocated 30 coal blocks to OMC, Odisha Power Generation Corporation, state PSUs of other states and private companies during 1993 to 2010. However, these coal projects were not developed following land acquisition and statutory clearances issues.