Hauled over the coals
The Tamil Nadu State Electricity Board (TNSEB) has been castigated by the Union ministry of coal for trying to import Australian coal to step up power generation. The ministry is worried the high sulphur content of Australian coal may cause acid rain. A disgruntled TNSEB has retaliated by pointing out that Indian coal is none too clean either.
K K Mishra, joint secretary in the coal ministry, expresses his surprise at TNSEB's decision to import two million tonnes of coal worth Rs 356 crore and claims TNSEB has sufficient coal in stock, and says the proposed import would lead to build-up of excess stocks at the ports and loss of business to Coal India Limited (CIL), Indian railways and the state-owned Poompuhar Shipping Corporation.
TNSEB officials, however, say they are importing the coal from Australia only as a last resort. Of the 30,000 tonnes of coal required daily by TNSEB's three main thermal stations, receipts from the collieries presently fall short by about 7,000 tonnes.
Unimpressed by TNSEB's assertions, CIL chairperson S K Chowdhary says, "CIL has the capacity to meet the increasing demand. Moreover, the Australian coal that TNSEB is importing has a sulphur content of 0.4 per cent, compared to 0.1 per cent in Indian coal."
TNSEB, on the other hand, contends indigenous coal has a lower calorific value and higher ash content than imported coal. Experts are also sceptical about CIL's acid rain fears. Somnath Mukherjea of the environmental engineering division at the National Thermal Power Corporation points out, "It is possible to import coal of the right sulphur content as suppliers can blend the quality."