Centre should buy imported coal, provide it to states at prevailing CIL price: AIPEF

UP Rajya Vidyut Upbhokta Parishad chairman Avdhesh Kumar Verma said that he hoped the UP government would not give its nod to the purchase of imported coal despite the pressure being mounted by the Centre

Lucknow: The All India Power Engineers’ Federation (AIPEF) has demanded that the Centre take the responsibility to import foreign coal on government- to- government basis since state generation companies are in no way responsible for the coal crisis which has resulted from lack of coordination among ministries concerned.

For the coal shortage resulting from policy lapses on the part of the Central government, states must not be penalized, said the AIPEF. (Pic for representation)

In a letter to Union power minister RK Singh, AIPEF chairman Shailendra Dubey demanded that the Centre import coal and make it available to state generation companies at prevailing Coal India Ltd (CIL) rates.

“For the coal shortage resulting from policy lapses on the part of the Central government, states must not be penalized,” he said.

He further argued that from a plain reading of Sec 11 of the Electricity Act along with the definition of ‘Appropriate Government’, it was concluded that the jurisdiction of the Central government, in applying section 11, was limited to a generating company that was wholly or partly owned by it.

“In case of state government-owned generating stations, it is the jurisdiction of the state government when it comes to the application of Sec 11,” Dubey added.