Gandhinagar

The Gujarat government claimed on the floor of the Assembly today that it would save Rs 160 crore due to coal swapping and ultimately pass on the benefit to coal consumers.

Gujarat Energy Minister Saurabh Patel stated in his written reply to Congress MLA Gyasuddin Shaikh during Question Hour today that a coal swap deal was signed between the state-run Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Ltd (GSECL) and the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) during September last year.

Under this agreement, GSECL may use the coal imported by NTPC, since that coal arrives at Gujarat-based ports. On the other hand, GSECL which gets its coal from Chhattisgarh’s Korba-Rewa mine, which transported to Gujarat by railway, would allow NTPC to use that coal for its Sipat power plant in Chhattisgarh.

Patel stated that such a coal-swapping deal between NTPC and GSECL would ultimately result in savings, since the inter-state transport cost on coal would be reduced.

According to Patel, GSECL would save Rs 1,600 per metric tonne spent to transport coal, since coal is now available through the Gujarat-based Dahej and Mundra ports.

Thus, Gujarat’s state-run public sector unit would save Rs 160 crore per year to transport 10 lakh metric tonne of coal, Patel said.

Patel stated that these savings would be considered while calculating the fuel cost adjustment charge as per the Gujarat Energy Regulatory Commission’s (GERC) directions.

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