Mumbai Union Coal Ministry Secretary S K Srivastava inaugurates Powertech India 2013

By Rons Bantwal Bellevision Media Network

Mumbai, 7 Nov 2013: The union coal ministry secretary S K Srivastava inaugurated the fifteenth national convention, Powertech India 2013, in the presence of presence of Central Electricity Authority former chairman and India Tech Governing Council chairman A S Bakshi, union energy ministry former secretary and Powertech India 2013 convener V K Pandit, union energy ministry additional secretary Ashok Lavasa, India Tech Foundation chairman Indra Mohan, at Hotel The Lalit, Andheri (East) here on Thursday November 7.

Speaking on the occasion, Srivatsava said that te top officials from union ministry of coal, railway ministry and Coal India Limited as well as Chief Ministers of few northern states will meet on November 12, to discuss the burning issue of large coal blocks located on railway tracks. They will have detail discussions on the subject and will try to come out with a solution, announced S K Srivastava.

Srivastava further said, the union government is determined to solve this issues and I am sure it will open up large coal fields, said Srivatsava. Addressing a round table conference of power suppliers-coal producers, Srivastava said all the concerned parties including onion ministry of environment, coal ministry, Coal India, and energy enterprises from both PSU as well as private sector should work together to improve the efficiency of power plants and augment coal supply. As of now, most of the power plants are not working at there optimal capacity due to shortage of fuel-specially coal and the union ministry will try to solve the issue, Srivastava added. Addressing round table of power-coal producers, union energy minister additional secretary Ashok Lavasa said, baring few power producers, almost all of them have signed the Fuel Supply Agreement (FSA), said Ashok. The gap between power tariffs and fuel cost should come down to extend the sustainability of power distribution companies, Lavasa added. In his welcome speech, Indra Mohan said, India is Worlds third largest producer of coal and also has fifth largest coal reserves in the world. However, Indian power sector is still plagued by insufficient supply of coal to maintain an accelerated growth of power generation.

Indias domestic coal output is now 540 million tons a year, while demand for coal in 2011-12 was 640 million tons, forcing the country into expensive imports even it sat on some of the biggest reserves in the world. By 2016-17, the government expects domestic coal output to reach 795 million tons, but demand is expected to reach 980 million tons by then - with 682 million tons needed for the power sector alone, said Indra Mohan.