2 min readNew DelhiJul 10, 2012 01:41 AM IST
First published on: Jul 10, 2012 at 01:41 AM IST
Coal India Limited has postponed its board meeting scheduled for Tuesday to July 16. Though the company has given no reason,it appears to be seeking more time to engage in extensive in-house deliberations before seeking the Boards approval on price pooling mechanism and reworking the supply trigger.
CIL has been mandated by a Presidential Directive to execute Fuel Supply Agreements FSAs with the power companies to ensure uninterrupted power generation. So far it has inked FSAs with 27 firms out of 48. During the last meeting at the PMO chaired by its Principal Secretary Pulok Chatterji,the PSU was categorically told to drastically tone down its force majeure clauses,the bone of contention between coal and power ministries.
At the behest of the electricity generation companies,the power ministry had stiffly opposed the immunity from penalty CIL sought for the first three years if there was a shortfall in supply.
The PSU is also upset on the fresh directive on compulsorily supplying 65-80 per cent of the assured coal in the second year ..,while in the third,fourth and fifth year it could be 80 per cent with tough penalty, coal ministry sources said. They argued that the state-run firm will have to convince its Board on the matter implying diluting its earlier decision.
CIL has reluctantly expressed its agreement to resort to price pooling for imported coal with the domestically produced fuel. We know the problems. But if we are told to do it,then I guess there will have to be a concrete methodology to execute it. It could be a pass through, CIL chairman
S Narsing Rao said. The board too is opposed to price pooling mechanism and in its earlier meetings it squarely disfavoured such a mechanism, sources said.
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