For seamless supply to Surat’s textile units during monsoon, GMDC to scale up production of lignite

GMDC officials including D K Patel, Incharge General Manager (Project) Bhavnagar; Niraj Patel, General manager (coal marketing); and SP Jagnani, General Manager, Production, Rajpardi (Tadkeshwar), met the mill owners in Surat on Monday through the South Gujarat Textile Processing Association (SGTPA).

During the meeting held at Pandesara, SGTPA president Jitu Vakhariya and member Vinod Agrawal sought seamless supply of lignite from Bhavnagar and Tadkeshwar mines in Surat for the dyeing and printing industry to overcome the shortage. Notably, the GMDC stops the mining of indigenous lignite during the monsoon season.

The GMDC has assured the supply by scaling up production in both the mines.

A GMDC official, on condition of anonymity, told The Indian Express, “Last year, we had a stock of around 5 lakh tonnes from the Tadkeshwar mines to meet the demand from textile mills. Still, this year, the demand is high. So, we will increase our stocking capacity of lignite at Tadkeshwar and Bhavnagar sites. The annual production of lignite from the Tadkeshwar mine is 15 lakh tonnes, while in the Bhavnagar mine, it is 20 lakh tonnes.”

The official further said, “Last year, we registered a 16-lakh tonne sale of lignite from Bhavnagar and Tadkeshwar. This year, seeing the demand, we are increasing the stock of lignite to over 20 lakh tonnes. Lignite is also in high demand in the ceramic industry in Morbi and captive power plants for big industries and other sectors.”

SGTPA president Vakhariya said, “Since the condition of the textile industry is good, we have many pending orders from the customers. We know that during monsoon season, when lignite mining will be stopped, we would face a short supply of lignite, affecting our production and, eventually, loss in business. We are now relaxed with GMDC officials assuring us that this year, they will stock 20 lakh tonnes of lignite during monsoon season to meet the demand.”

He further said, “Generally, mill owners use 70 per cent of imported coal and 30 per cent of lignite in the boiler… The price of one tonne of lignite is over Rs 4,500 while that of imported coal is between Rs 7,000 and Rs 9,000. The price of imported coal, which comes all the way from Indonesia to Surat, varies constantly. Middlemen and others raise the prices on their own, and sometimes, they intentionally show a shortage of coal supply. Sometimes, the lignite quality is so good that we reduce the quantity of imported coal in the boiler.”