State-owned Coal India has declined the power producers' proposal to extend the timelines for the third auction round and the application for reassessment of eligibility requirements for participation in the fuel supply contract bidding process.
The PSU miner also said that its role is limited to making the coal available from source.
The Association of Power Producers (APP) demanded that Coal India Ltd (CIL) extend the deadlines for the auction as well as reassess the eligibility for participation in the third round of the auction under the SHAKTI B(ii) scheme.
The third auction “is being undertaken by PFCCL (PFC Consulting) as per the IMC (Inter-Ministerial Committee) decision. The CIL’s role is limited to making available the source-wise availability of coal which it has already provided to PFCCL. Therefore, other issues need to be taken up with PFCCL, being the agency responsible for conducting the auction,” CIL told APP.
“Again it is pertinent to mention that the assessment of coal requirement has been made by the CEA (Central Electricity Authority) under the instance of PFCCL as per mechanism of the auction. As such CIL has no role in addressing the concerns raised by APP which may be taken up with the concerned agency,” the PSU said.
Shakti B(ii) scheme is for power producers who have power purchase agreements with discom, but do not have coal supply contracts with CIL.
Recently, APP has informed CIL that the participation of bidders in the SHAKTI B(ii) round 3 auction may be limited due to stress factors arising from the fully drying up of revenue inflows from distribution companies and a large number of discomforts serving notifications to power producers to back down their generation.
“Further, for the round three auction, it is noted that the maximum allocable quantity derived basis of the eligible capacity and coal quantum is not in line with the generation parameters as considered in prior rounds of auction (i.e. as per the provisions of scheme document),” APP said.
Both the above factors may result in loss of opportunity to bidders if the SHAKTI B(ii) round three auction is held as per schedule.
“Therefore, in view of the above, in order to avoid any litigations issues arising out of loss of opportunity to bidders it would be prudent to re-assess the eligibility for participation in SHAKTI B (ii) third round auction and till finalisation of same, the auction timelines may be extended,” APP said.
