Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Friday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to supply 72,000 tonne of coal daily to maintain uninterrupted power supply in the state. Stalin in a letter to Modi said: "I request you to direct the Ministry of Coal to ensure the supply of 72,000 MT coal per day as per the FSA (Fuel Supply Agreement) at Paradip and Vishakhapatnam ports. Only this step can enable us to maintain uninterrupted power supply in the State and hence I solicit your personal intervention in this regard." Stalin said provision of sufficient coal from Talcher mines in Odisha is vital for the thermal power units in Tamil Nadu.
"In this regard, the current daily receipt of coal for Tamil Nadu's units is only 50,000 MTs, against the coal requirement of 72,000 MTs," Stalin said. Stalin said while coal production is sufficient to meet the increased summer power demand, the same is not getting transported to ports due to short supply of rakes by Railways. "This, in turn, has resulted in the coal stocks of our State's generation plants reaching critical levels. In the case of TANGEDCO, 22 railway rakes per day are required for moving 72,000 MTs of daily allotted coal to Paradip and Vishakhapatnam ports. However, on an average, only 14 rakes per day are currently being provided by Railways," Stalin said. "Owing to the shortage of domestic coal, the state power utility TANGEDCO has to import coal at high prices and also to buy power at high rates in energy exchanges. Further sufficient power is not available at energy exchanges," Stalin said.