Lok Sabha Question No. 3119 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-18
Subject: Financial Audits to Improve Production Efficiency
Ministry: POWER
Asked by: Shri Jyotirmay Singh Mahato

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3119 ANSWERED ON 18.12.2025

## FINANCIAL AUDITS TO IMPROVE PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY

†3119. SHRI JYOTIRMAY SINGH MAHATO:

Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:

- (a) the status of coal supply, stock position and refusal at the Raghunathpur Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) Plant during the last five years;
- (b) whether it is a fact that the units had to go on outage several times due to weak planning  by  management  and  shortcomings  in  contract  management  and  if  so,  the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has any report indicating that the Plant Load Factor (PLF) has consistently remained below the national average due to delay in maintenance, nonavailability of spare parts, poor Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) management and inadequate technical inspections and if so, the details thereof along with the remedial measures taken by the Government in this regard; and
- (d) whether the Government proposes to conduct any technical and financial audits to improve  production  efficiency  and  identify  management  shortcomings  and  if  so,  the details thereof?

## A N S W E R

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF POWER

(SHRI SHRIPAD NAIK)

- (a)  &  (b):      The  status  of  coal  receipt,  stock  position,  and  refusal  at  Raghunathpur Thermal Power Plant (RTPP) of Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) during the last five years and current financial year (Apr-Nov) is given below:

|   S.N. | Financial Year (FY)   |   Receipt of Coal at Plant (in 000' Tonnes) | Stock at Plant as on 31 st March of FY (in 000' Tonnes)   | Refusal of Coal at plant   |
|--------|-----------------------|---------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------|
|      1 | 2020-21               |                                        3093 | 203                                                       |                            |
|      2 | 2021-22               |                                        3964 | 201                                                       |                            |
|      3 | 2022-23               |                                        3745 | 225                                                       | NIL                        |
|      4 | 2023-24               |                                        4702 | 485                                                       |                            |
|      5 | 2024-25               |                                        4270 | 361                                                       |                            |
|      6 | 2025-26 (Apr-Nov)     |                                        2963 | 323*                                                      |                            |

DVC has not reported any outage of this plant on account of shortage of coal.

………2.

(c):      The  Plant  Load  Factor (PLF) of Raghunathpur Thermal Power Plant (RTPP) and National Average PLF of Coal-based Thermal Power Plants (TPPs) during the last five years and current financial year are given below:

|   S.N. | Financial Year (FY)   |   PLF of Raghunathpur TPP of DVC (%) |   Overall PLF of coal-based TPPs of DVC (%) |   National Average PLF of Coal-based TPPs |
|--------|-----------------------|--------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
|      1 | 2020-21               |                                49.71 |                                       62.39 |                                     54.56 |
|      2 | 2021-22               |                                57.85 |                                       68.96 |                                     58.76 |
|      3 | 2022-23               |                                53.67 |                                       74.22 |                                     64.21 |
|      4 | 2023-24               |                                65.98 |                                       76.81 |                                     69.49 |
|      5 | 2024-25               |                                62.56 |                                       75.7  |                                     69.95 |
|      6 | 2025-26 (Apr-Nov) *   |                                60.91 |                                       68.79 |                                     63.25 |

*Tentative figures

The reasons for the low PLF percentage in Raghunathpur Thermal Power Plant during the last five years are as follows:

- (i) FY 2020-21: The low scheduled demand was due to the national lockdown imposed because of COVID-19.
- (ii) FY 2021-22 to 2024-25: There was poor evacuation from the ash plant along with low scheduled demand from 2021-22 to 2024-25.
- (iii) FY 2024-2025: Due to outage of Turbine in Unit #2 from March, 2024 to July, 2024 and Low schedule demand.
- (iv) FY  2025-26 (till Nov'25):  Unit #1 was under shut down in September, 2025 for oil leakage attention in suction line of HP seal back-up pump, and again under shut down from 14.10.2025 to 20.11.2025 for overhauling & attention of  condenser.  However,  PLF  in  the  current  FY  2025-26  (till  Nov'25)  is 60.91%,  as  compared  to  55.45%  during  the  corresponding  period  of  the previous year i.e. FY 2024-25 (till Nov'24).

The remedial measures undertaken by DVC are as follows:

- (i) For  better  evacuation  of  fly  ash  from  Electro-Static  Precipitator  (ESP) hopper's, a work order for an additional 01 No. of Fly Ash Extraction (FAE) tower has been placed.
- (ii) Overhauling of both RTPS units has been carried out through Indian vendors and is currently running at full load.
- (iii) Improvement in Ash Handling Plant (AHP) Performance has been carried out through extensive maintenance work.

(d):        The  Government  of  India,  through  the  Comptroller  and  Auditor  General (CAG), conducts statutory audits of Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), under section 47 of Damodar Valley Corporation Act 1948 which includes examining evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statement. It also includes assessing the accounting principle used and significant estimates made by management (DVC), as well  as  evaluating  the  overall  presentation  of  financial  statements.  Further,  DVC performs  technical  audits  of  its  thermal  power  plants  for  addressing  deficit  areas through long-term and short-term plan.

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