NTPC owes Rs 2,839 cr to Coal India, says govt

New Delhi: The government today said state- owned NTPC has outstanding dues of Rs 2,839 crore towards Coal India (CIL).

“NTPC has outstanding coal sale dues of Rs 2839.65 crore to CIL as on March 31, 2013,” Minister of State for coal Pratik Prakashbapu Patil said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. It may be recalled that CIL and NTPC are at loggerheads over coal quality issue.

[caption id=“attachment_741185” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] NTPC had alleged that ECL supplied coal mixed with boulders, stones and even dirt.. Reuters[/caption]

Of the total dues, the power producer owes maximum to Northern Coalfields Ltd, a CIL subsidiary, at Rs 1,178.9 crore, followed by Rs 1,024 crore to its other arm, the Eastern Coalfields (ECL), among others. Replying to another question, the Minister said that CIL and its subsidiaries are supplying coal to NTPC under fuel supply agreement (FSA) at the price notified by CIL from time to time.

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“The price applicable for NTPC, i.e regulated sector …is 30-35 percent cheaper than that applicable for non-regulated sector,” the Minister said. Earlier this month, CIL stopped supply of coal to ECL on account of non-payment of dues. For the first few days after supply was resumed on April 4, joint sampling of quality was carried out by CIL and NTPC officials, but their differences on the issue remained.

Failing to reach a consensus on joint sampling, CIL has decided to engage the newly-formed national laboratory, Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR), Dhanbad, for neutral coal quality certification for supply to NTPC plants in the east. NTPC had alleged that ECL supplied coal mixed with boulders, stones and even dirt.

PTI