THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF POWER (SHRI K.C. VENUGOPAL)
(a) to (d) : The performance of power plants is dependent on a
number of factors, like type/category of plant (hydro or thermal),
design and age of the units, outages for repairs (forced) and
planned maintenance, availability of water, quantity & quality of
fuel, availability of transmission system for evacuation of
generated power and adequate schedules from the beneficiaries
etc.
The Plant Load Factor (PLF) is an index of utilization
of the installed capacity of thermal generating units. A
statement indicating Private Sector thermal power stations
having PLF below the national average PLF during the period
April, 2011-February, 2012 along with the status of coal supply is
enclosed at Annex.
The target for supply of domestic coal for the year
2011-12 was 402 MT of which Coal India Limited was to supply
347 MT for power sector. The actual supply by Coal India
Limited to the Power Utilities upto February, 2012 was
approximately 283 Million Tonne, representing materialization of
the order of 90% of the proportionate target for the period and
the less supply of coal has affected generation across all the
sectors.
Following steps have been / are being taken by the
Government to mitigate shortage of coal for the thermal power
plants in the country:
# Ministry of Coal / Coal India Ltd. are being insisted upon to
enhance production of domestic coal in the country.
# Power Utilities have been advised to import coal to extent
technically feasible to bridge the gap between
requirement of coal and its availability from domestic
sources.
# The coal supply position to thermal power stations is
regularly reviewed in Ministry of Coal, Ministry of Power
and Cabinet Secretariat with participation from the
concerned Ministries, Central Electricity Authority, Coal
India Limited and NTPC Limited.
# Reduction in e-auction by CIL from 10% to 7% of its
production progressively till the end of 12th Plan, if
required, to meet its commitment to power sector.
(e) : The Electricity Act created an enabling legal
framework for encouraging private sector participation in power.
It allows developers to set up merchant power plants which
have no power purchase agreements, with the tariff being
market driven. Liberal provisions have been made in the
Electricity Act in regard to captive power plants. The Act also
provides for non-discriminatory open access for transmission of
electricity from a captive generating plant to the destination of
its use, subject to availability of transmission capacity.
Initiatives for setting up of Ultra Mega Power Projects, super
critical technology in thermal generation, allocation of captive
coal blocks to private developers are some of the other salient
measures.
The 2012-13 budget has proposed to extend the
sunset date for setting up power sector undertakings by a year
to March 31, 2013 for claiming 100% deduction of profits for the
purpose of tax for 10 years. Additional depreciation of 20% in
the first year would be extended to new assets acquired by
power generation companies.
