Lok Sabha Question No. 1755 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-20
Subject: Stranded Power Plants
Ministry: POWER
Asked by: SHIVAJI ADHALRAO PATIL, Shrirang Appa Barne, ANANDRAO  ADSUL, VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1755

TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.12.2018

## STRANDED POWER PLANTS

1755. SHRI ADHALRAO PATIL SHIVAJIRAO:

SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE: SHRI ANANDRAO ADSUL: SHRI VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT:

Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  High  Level  Empowered  Committee  (HLEC)  set  up  by  Union Government has come out with its report on stranded thermal power projects;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  reasons  that  have  contributed  to  the current scenario;
- (c) the details of thermal power projects which are entirely fuelled by coal and lignite;
- (d) whether the aforesaid committee has suggested measures to resolve the challenges;
- (e) if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) the  action  taken  to  resolve  the  challenges  faced  by  the  thermal  power projects?

## A N S W E R

THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR POWER AND NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY

( SHRI  R. K. SINGH )

(a) & (b) : Yes,  Madam.   A  High  Level  Empowered  Committee  (HLEC)  was constituted by the Government on 29.07.2018 to examine the issues of Stressed Thermal Power Projects, headed by Cabinet Secretary, with representatives from Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Coal and the lenders having major exposure to the power sector.

The HLEC report mentions the major reasons for stress in the Power Sector, which are as follows:

-  Issues related to Coal supply,

-  Slow growth in Power demand,

...........2.

-  Delayed payments by DISCOMs,
-  Inability of the Promoter to infuse equity and service debt,
-  Slow implementation of project by the developers,
-  Issues related to Banks/ FIs
-  Aggressive tariffs quoted by bidders in competitive bidding process,
-  Regulatory and contractual disputes,
-  Legal issues related to auctioned coal mines,
-  Other operational issues such as delay in land acquisitions, inadequate transmission system etc.

(c) : The details of Thermal Power Project which are entirely fuelled by coal and lignite are provided in Annexure.

(d) & (e) : The HLEC has made following recommendations in their report:

1. Recommendations for Coal allocation/supply

1.1.              Coal Linkage for short-term PPA: Linkage coal may be allowed to be used against short term PPAs and power be sold through Discovery of  Efficient  Energy  Price  (DEEP)  portal  following  a  transparent  bidding process.

1.2.              Coal  Supply  in  case  of  termination  of  PPAs  due  to  Payment default by DISCOMs: A generator should be able to terminate PPA in case of default in payment from the DISCOM with the facility to use linkage coal for short term PPAs for a period of maximum of 2 years or until they find another buyer of power under long/medium term PPA, whichever is earlier.

1.3.              Procurement  of  bulk  power  by  a  nodal  agency  against  predeclared  linkages: A  nodal  agency  may  be  designated  which  may  invite bids  for  procurement  of  bulk  power  for  medium  term  for  3  to  5  years  in appropriate tranches, against pre declared linkage by Coal India Limited (CIL).

1.4.              PSU  to  act  as  an  aggregator  of  power: NTPC  can  act  as  an aggregator of power, i.e., procure power through transparent competitive bidding process from such stressed power plants and offer that power to the  DISCOMs  against  PPAs  of  NTPC  till  such  time  as  NTPC's  own concerned plants/units are commissioned.

1.5.              Increase  in  quantity  of  coal  for  special  forward  e-auction  for power sector: Ministry Of Coal may earmark for power, at least 60 per cent of  the  e-auction  coal,  and  this  should  be  in  addition  to  the  regular  coal requirement of the power sector.

1.6.              Linkage to be provided at notified prices without bidding:The generator should be required to bid only once, for the procurement of PPA and linkage should be granted at notified price without any further bidding, to the extent of incremental coal production.

..........3.

1.7.              Non-lapsing of short supplies of coal: If there is a shortfall in the supply of coal and it is attributable to the Ministry of Coal or Railways; such  shortfall  need  not  lapse  and  be  carried  over  to  the  subsequent months up to a maximum of three months.

1.8.              ACQ  to  be  determined  based  on  efficiency: Upper  ceiling  for the  ACQ/MW  may  be  prescribed  by  the  CEA  on  the  basis  of  efficiency parameters  and  irrespective  of  the  capacity  and  actual  consumption  of that plant, the coal may be supplied on that basis.

2.   Recommendations to facilitate sale of power of the stressed power plants

2.1.              Retirement of old and inefficient Plants: Old and high heat rate plants not complying with new environment norms may be considered for retirement in a phased and time bound manner at the same time avoiding any demand/supply mismatch.

3.   Recommendations on Regulatory & DISCOM payment issues:

3.1.              Mandatory  payment  of  Late  Payment  Surcharge  (LPS):Late Payment Surcharge be mandatorily paid in the event of delay in payment by the DISCOM.

3.2.              Payment Security mechanism for IPPs: PFIs providing the Bill Discounting facility may also be covered by TPA i.e. in case of default by the DISCOM, the RBI may recover the dues from the account of States and make payment to the PFIs.

4.   Other Recommendations

4.1.              Cancellation of PPA/FSA/LTOA post NCLT scenario: PPAs, FSA and  LTOA  for  transmission  of  power,  EC/FC  clearances,  and  all  other approvals  including water,  be kept alive  and  not cancelled  by  the respective agencies even if the project is referred to NCLT or is acquired by  any  other  entity.  All  of  these  may  be  linked  to  the  plant  and  not  the Promoter.

4.2.              Cancellation of PPA for non-compliance of COD: In case there is a delay in the commissioning of a project, the DISCOMs may be advised not to cancel the PPAs signed with the Generator and the same be kept on hold for a certain period of time.

4.3.              Low utilization of Gas plant capacity due to paucity of natural gas: In  order  to  revive  gas  based  power  plants,  Ministry  of  Power  and Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas may jointly devise a scheme in line with the earlier e-bid RLNG Scheme (supported by PSDF).

Report has been circulated by the Government to all members. It has also been published on the website of the Ministry.

.............4.

- (f) : Govt. of India has taken following steps to resolve the issues related to stress in Thermal Power Projects:
- I. Fuel  Linkages  under  SHAKTI;  The  government  has  approved  a  new  coal linkage  allocation  policy  on  May  17,  2018  named  SHAKTI  (Scheme  for harnessing  &  allocating  koyla  transparently  in  India).  Under  the  scheme, auction of coal linkages for Independent Power Producers (IPPs) with PPAs based on domestic coal has been conducted on September 12, 2017. IPPs having  PPA  but  no  coal  linkages  have  participated  in  the  auction  and linkages have been granted to 11549 MW capacity (10 projects) including five stressed projects of total 8490 MW capacity, and these projects have been resolved. Under B(i) provision of SHAKTI scheme, linkages have been granted to States/ Central Gencos for 8870 MW for 10 projects.
- II. Pilot project for procurement of 2500 MW; In order to address the problem of lack of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) in the country, The Ministry of Power  has notified a scheme  for procurement of  2500  MW  on competitive  basis  for  a  period  of  3  years  from  the  generators  with commissioned  projects  having  untied  capacity.  Under  the  scheme,  PFC Consulting  Ltd.  invited  bids  for  2500  MW  of  power  wherein  PTC  India Limited acted as an aggregator of demand for purchase of power from the power  projects  and  sell  that  power  to  states  utilities.  Bids  have  been received from 7 (seven) projects for aggregate power of 1900 MW. Letter of Award (LOA) has been issued to all the successful bidders (1900 MW).
- III. DISCOM Payment Monitoring App PRAAPTI: A new App PRAAPTI (Payment Ratification and Analysis in Power Procurement for Bringing Transparency in Invoicing of generators) has been launched by the Ministry of Power to bring more transparency in the payment  system by DISCOMs.  The generators  are  being  actively  encouraged  to  feed  in  their  invoicing  and payments data in the portal.
- IV. Steps taken to reduce the cost of generation: Reduction in the generation cost  is  likely  to  improve  the  ability  of  DISCOMs  to  purchase  more  power and thus create more demand for power generators. The government has taken various steps to reduce the cost of generation, which are as under:-
- a. The  introduction  of  third  party  sampling  by  Central  Institute  of Mining  and  Fuel  Research  (CIMFR): The  Government  has  started third  party  sampling  of  coal  at  both  loading  and  unloading  end  of coal supply from CIL to Generators.
- b. Coal linkage rationalization:
-  Ministry  of  Power  vide  letter  no  5/3/2015-OM  dated  10th  June,  2016 had issued the policy on flexibility in utilization of domestic coal for reducing the cost of power generation for central generating companies and state power utility.
-  MoP  vide  letter  no  5/3/2015-OM  dated  20th  February,  2017  issued  the methodology for use of coal by state in private generating stations.

***************

## ANNEXURE

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1755 TO BE ANSWERED IN THE LOK SABHA ON 20.12.2018.

***************

## List of Coal /lignite  Power Stations in the country as on 30.11.2018

| Fuel   | Sector               | State          | Name of Project           |   Capacity (MW) |
|--------|----------------------|----------------|---------------------------|-----------------|
| Coal   | Central Sector       | Andhra Pradesh | SIMHADRI                  |            2000 |
|        |                      | Assam          | BONGAIGAON TPP            |             500 |
|        |                      | Bihar          | BARH II                   |            1320 |
|        |                      |                | KAHALGAON TPS             |            2340 |
|        |                      |                | MUZAFFARPUR TPS           |             610 |
|        |                      |                | NABI NAGAR TPP            |             500 |
|        |                      | Chhattisgarh   | BHILAI TPS                |             500 |
|        |                      |                | KORBA STPS                |            2600 |
|        |                      |                | LARA TPP                  |             800 |
|        |                      |                | SIPAT STPS                |            2980 |
|        |                      | Haryana        | INDIRA GANDHI STPP        |            1500 |
|        |                      | Jharkhand      | BOKARO `B` TPS            |             210 |
|        |                      |                | BOKARO TPS `A` EXP        |             500 |
|        |                      |                | CHANDRAPURA(DVC) TPS      |             630 |
|        |                      |                | KODARMA TPP               |            1000 |
|        |                      | Karnataka      | KUDGI STPP                |            2400 |
|        |                      | Madhya Pradesh | VINDHYACHAL STPS          |            4760 |
|        |                      | Maharashtra    | MAUDA TPS                 |            2320 |
|        |                      |                | SOLAPUR STPS              |             660 |
|        |                      | Odisha         | TALCHER (OLD) TPS         |             460 |
|        |                      |                | TALCHER STPS              |            3000 |
|        |                      | Tamil Nadu     | TUTICORIN (JV) TPP        |            1000 |
|        |                      |                | VALLUR TPP                |            1500 |
|        |                      | Telangana      | RAMAGUNDEM STPS           |            2600 |
|        |                      | Uttar Pradesh  | DADRI (NCTPP)             |            1820 |
|        |                      |                | MEJA STPP                 |             660 |
|        |                      |                | RIHAND STPS               |            3000 |
|        |                      |                | SINGRAULI STPS            |            2000 |
|        |                      |                | TANDA TPS                 |             440 |
|        |                      |                | UNCHAHAR TPS              |            1550 |
|        |                      | West Bengal    | DURGAPUR STEEL TPS        |            1000 |
|        |                      |                | DURGAPUR TPS              |             210 |
|        |                      |                | FARAKKA STPS              |            2100 |
|        |                      |                | MEJIA TPS                 |            2340 |
|        |                      |                | RAGHUNATHPUR TPP          |            1200 |
|        | Central Sector Total |                |                           |           53010 |
|        | State Sector         | Andhra Pradesh | DAMODARAM SANJEEVAIAH TPS |            1600 |
|        |                      |                | Dr. N.TATA RAO TPS        |            1760 |
|        |                      |                | RAYALASEEMA TPS           |            1650 |
|        |                      | Bihar          | BARAUNI TPS               |             710 |
|        |                      | Chhattisgarh   | DSPM TPS                  |             500 |
|        |                      |                | KORBA-II                  |             200 |
|        |                      |                | KORBA-III                 |             240 |
|        |                      |                | KORBA-WEST TPS            |            1340 |
|        |                      |                | MARWA TPS                 |            1000 |
|        |                      | Delhi          | RAJGHAT TPS               |             135 |
|        |                      | Gujarat        | GANDHI NAGAR TPS          |             630 |
|        |                      |                | SIKKA REP. TPS            |             500 |
|        |                      |                | UKAI TPS                  |            1110 |
|        |                      |                | WANAKBORI TPS             |            1470 |

| Haryana        | PANIPAT TPS                  | 920.00   |
|----------------|------------------------------|----------|
|                | RAJIV GANDHI TPS             | 1200.00  |
|                | YAMUNA NAGAR TPS             | 600.00   |
| Jharkhand      | TENUGHAT TPS                 | 420.00   |
| Karnataka      | BELLARY TPS                  | 1700.00  |
|                | RAICHUR TPS                  | 1720.00  |
|                | YERMARUS TPP                 | 1600.00  |
| Madhya Pradesh | AMARKANTAK EXT TPS           | 210.00   |
|                | SANJAY GANDHI TPS            | 1340.00  |
|                | SATPURA TPS                  | 1330.00  |
|                | SHREE SINGAJI TPP            | 1860.00  |
| Maharashtra    | BHUSAWAL TPS                 | 1210.00  |
|                | CHANDRAPUR(MAHARASHTRA) STPS | 2920.00  |
|                | KHAPARKHEDA TPS              | 1340.00  |
|                | KORADI TPS                   | 2400.00  |
|                | NASIK TPS                    | 630.00   |
|                | PARAS TPS                    | 500.00   |
|                | PARLI TPS                    | 1170.00  |
| Odisha         | IB VALLEY TPS                | 420.00   |
| Punjab         | GH TPS (LEH.MOH.)            | 920.00   |
|                | ROPAR TPS                    | 840.00   |
| Rajasthan      | CHHABRA TPP                  | 1660.00  |
|                | KALISINDH TPS                | 1200.00  |
|                | KOTA TPS                     | 1240.00  |
| Tamil Nadu     | METTUR TPS                   | 840.00   |
|                | METTUR TPS-II                | 600.00   |
|                | NORTH CHENNAI TPS            | 1830.00  |
|                | TUTICORIN TPS                | 1050.00  |
| Telangana      | KAKATIYA TPS                 | 1100.00  |
|                | KOTHAGUDEM TPS               | 720.00   |
|                | KOTHAGUDEM TPS (NEW)         | 1000.00  |
|                | RAMAGUNDEM - B TPS           | 62.50    |
|                | SINGARENI TPP                | 1200.00  |
| Uttar Pradesh  | ANPARA TPS                   | 2630.00  |
|                | HARDUAGANJ TPS               | 605.00   |
|                | OBRA TPS                     | 1094.00  |
|                | PARICHHA TPS                 | 1140.00  |
| West Bengal    | BAKRESWAR TPS                | 1050.00  |
|                | BANDEL TPS                   | 330.00   |
|                | D.P.L. TPS                   | 660.00   |
|                | KOLAGHAT TPS                 | 1260.00  |
|                | SAGARDIGHI TPS               | 1600.00  |
|                | SANTALDIH TPS                | 500.00   |
| Andhra Pradesh | PAINAMPURAM TPP              | 1320.00  |
|                | SGPL TPP                     | 1320.00  |
|                | SIMHAPURI TPS                | 600.00   |
|                | THAMMINAPATNAM TPS           | 300.00   |
|                | VIZAG TPP                    | 1040.00  |
| Chhattisgarh   | AKALTARA TPS                 | 1800.00  |
|                | AVANTHA BHANDAR              | 600.00   |
|                | BALCO TPS                    | 600.00   |
|                | BANDAKHAR TPP                | 300.00   |
|                | BARADARHA TPS                | 1200.00  |
|                | CHAKABURA TPP                | 30.00    |
|                | KASAIPALLI TPP               |          |
|                |                              | 270.00   |
|                | NAWAPARA TPP                 | 600.00   |
|                | OP JINDAL TPS                | 1000.00  |

|                | PATHADI TPP                   | 600.00          |
|----------------|-------------------------------|-----------------|
|                | RAIKHEDA TPP                  | 1370.00         |
|                | RATIJA TPS                    | 100.00          |
|                | SALORA TPP                    | 135.00          |
|                | SVPL TPP                      | 63.00           |
|                | SWASTIK KORBA TPP             | 25.00           |
|                | TAMNAR TPP                    | 2400.00         |
|                | UCHPINDA TPP                  | 1080.00         |
| Gujarat        | MUNDRA TPS                    | 4620.00         |
|                | MUNDRA UMTPP                  | 4000.00         |
|                | SABARMATI (C STATION)         | 60.00           |
|                | SABARMATI (D-F STATIONS)      | 362.00          |
|                | SALAYA TPP                    | 1200.00         |
| Haryana        | MAHATMA GANDHI TPS            | 1320.00         |
| Jharkhand      | JOJOBERA TPS                  | 240.00          |
|                | MAHADEV PRASAD STPP           | 540.00          |
|                | MAITHON RB TPP                | 1050.00         |
| Karnataka      | TORANGALLU TPS(SBU-I)         | 260.00          |
|                | TORANGALLU TPS(SBU-II)        | 600.00          |
|                | UDUPI TPP                     | 1200.00         |
| Madhya Pradesh | ANUPPUR TPP                   | 1200.00         |
|                | BINA TPS                      | 500.00          |
|                | MAHAN TPP                     | 1200.00         |
|                | NIGRI TPP                     | 1320.00         |
|                | NIWARI TPP                    | 45.00           |
|                | SASAN UMTPP                   | 3960.00         |
| Maharashtra    | AMARAVATI TPS                 | 1350.00         |
|                | BELA TPS                      | 270.00          |
|                | BUTIBORI TPP                  | 600.00          |
|                | DAHANU TPS                    | 500.00          |
|                | DHARIWAL TPP                  | 600.00          |
|                | GEPL TPP Ph-I                 | 120.00          |
|                | GMR WARORA TPS                | 600.00          |
|                | JSW RATNAGIRI TPP             | 1200.00         |
|                | MIHAN TPS                     | 246.00          |
|                | NASIK (P) TPS                 | 1350.00         |
|                | SHIRPUR TPP                   | 150.00          |
|                | TIRORA TPS TROMBAY TPS        | 3300.00 1250.00 |
|                | WARDHA WARORA TPP             | 540.00          |
| Odisha         | DERANG TPP                    | 1200.00         |
|                | KAMALANGA TPS                 | 1050.00         |
|                | STERLITE TPP                  | 1200.00         |
|                | UTKAL TPP (IND BARATH)        | 350.00          |
| Punjab         | GOINDWAL SAHIB RAJPURA TPP    | 540.00 1400.00  |
| Rajasthan      | TALWANDI SABO TPP             | 1980.00         |
|                | KAWAI TPS ITPCL TPP           | 1320.00         |
| Tamil Nadu     |                               | 1200.00         |
|                | MUTHIARA TPP                  | 1200.00         |
|                | TUTICORIN (P) TPP             |                 |
| Uttar Pradesh  | ANPARA C TPS                  | 300.00 1200.00  |
|                |                               | 90.00           |
|                | BARKHERA TPS KHAMBARKHERA TPS | 90.00           |
|                | KUNDARKI TPS                  | 90.00           |
|                | LALITPUR TPS                  | 1980.00         |
|                |                               | 90.00           |
|                | MAQSOODPUR TPS PRAYAGRAJ TPP  | 1980.00         |
|                | ROSA TPP Ph-I                 | 1200.00         |
|                | UTRAULA TPS                   | 90.00           |

|               |                      | West Bengal   | BUDGE BUDGE TPS    |   750.00 |
|---------------|----------------------|---------------|--------------------|----------|
|               |                      |               | HALDIA TPP         |      600 |
|               |                      |               | Hiranmaye TPP      |      300 |
|               |                      |               | SOUTHERN REPL. TPS |      135 |
|               |                      |               | TITAGARH TPS       |      240 |
|               | Private Sector Total |               |                    |    74316 |
| Coal Total    |                      |               |                    |   190292 |
| Lignite       | Central Sector       | Rajasthan     | BARSINGSAR LIGNITE |      250 |
|               |                      | Tamil Nadu    | NEYVELI ( EXT) TPS |      420 |
|               |                      |               | NEYVELI TPS- I     |      600 |
|               |                      |               | NEYVELI TPS-II     |     1470 |
|               |                      |               | NEYVELI TPS-II EXP |      500 |
|               | Central Sector Total |               |                    |     3240 |
|               | State Sector         | Gujarat       | AKRIMOTA LIG TPS   |      250 |
|               |                      |               | BHAVNAGAR CFBC TPP |      500 |
|               |                      |               | KUTCH LIG. TPS     |      290 |
|               |                      | Rajasthan     | GIRAL TPS          |      250 |
|               | State Sector Total   |               |                    |     1290 |
|               | Private Sector       | Gujarat       | SURAT LIG. TPS     |      500 |
|               |                      | Rajasthan     | JALIPA KAPURDI TPP |     1080 |
|               |                      | Tamil Nadu    | NEYVELI TPS(Z)     |      250 |
|               | Private Sector Total |               |                    |     1830 |
| Lignite Total |                      |               |                    |     6360 |
| Grand Total   |                      |               |                    |   196652 |

## **************