Indian power gen companies are paying 10 times more for imported Adani coal, thanks to a Modi government Order.
Indian power gen companies are paying ten times more for imported Adani coal, thanks to a Modi government. Order.
The Modi government Ordered power generation companies to use 10 per cent imported coal.
It then floated a tender for coal import. And guess who won the tender. Adani Enterprises Ltd!
Adani is now importing 2.416 million tonnes of coal for CIL (Coal India Ltd.), which in turn is supplying 135 thermal power gen plants across India.
Where these plants were buying Indian coal for Rs 1,700 per tonne, they’re now paying Rs. 17,000 for a tonne of Adani coal. Each has to buy 10% coal from Adani as a RULE!
2.416 million tonnes for Rs. 17,000 per tonne. Something that could’ve cost Rs 400 crores is being done for Rs 4300 crores.
Cool, right?
Here’s what happened?
The government had instructed electricity producers to import 10% of the coal they needed for blending.
Adani is one of the major players in India’s march toward renewable energy sources in addition to being the nation’s largest operator of coal-fired power facilities. In a joint venture with French oil giant Total Energies, his business recently pledged to investing $50 billion in the development of green hydrogen.
State and independent power producers will have to pay ten times as much for imported coal as domestic coal to comply with the Center’s requirement for a 10% blending. Government representatives informed TNIE that while domestic coal costs electricity gencos close to Rs 1,700 to Rs 2,000 per tonne, imported produce would be close to Rs 17,000 to Rs 20,000 per tonne (after including landing costs).
The cost to the electricity gencos will be at least seven to 10 times higher than usual. Perhaps, for this reason, many states are hesitant to import, including Telangana, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand. Initially reluctant to import, Uttar Pradesh has changed its mind, according to a coal ministry official.
The winning bidder, Adani Group, has offered a price of Rs 16,700 a tonne for 2.416 million tonnes of imported coal. After landing costs were added, power generators would pay approximately Rs 20,000 per tonne.
The electricity ministry instructed all states and domestic coal-based power generators to import at least 10% of their coal requirement for blending because the country is experiencing a power crisis due to a lack of coal. Their quota (for imported coal) would be increased by 15% for the remaining time if they didn’t follow the blending guideline.
Additionally, the government opted to import coal overseas to increase supplies and fulfil the rising demand for coal. The coal ministry permitted the state’s gencos to import coal through Coal India Limited (CIL).
On June 9 and 10, respectively, CIL issued its first tenders for importing 2.416 million tonnes and 6 million tonnes (MT) of coal from other countries.
Adani Enterprises Ltd. won the 2.416 coal tender. In contrast, according to sources, PT Bara Daya Energy consortium, based in Indonesia, won the medium-term tenders to import 7.91 lakh tonnes of coal for delivery to gencos in August and September.
Adani has provided a freight-on-road (FOR) quote of Rs 4,033 crore for the supply of 2.416 million tonnes of coal. In comparison, Bara Daya Energi has provided a FOR quote of Rs 4,331 crore for the eastern coast contract and FOR sections of Rs 4,497 crore for the western coast for 3 million tonnes each.
Seven state gencos and 19 independent power producers had previously given CIL orders to import coal from Adani Group. The state will incur an additional expenditure of Rs 895 crore due to Uttar Pradesh’s recent approval of the import of 5.46 lakh tonnes through CIL for August and September.
