Mumbai, June 29 -- Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis acknowledged that the supply of substandard coal had reduced power generation in the state and said the government was working with the Centre to strengthen coal quality checks and procurement safeguards. The issue had been raised in the state assembly by Vijay Wadettiwar, who linked recent power shortages, rising electricity demand and outages at generating units to poor-quality coal supplied to state-run power plants. Mr Wadettiwar had also sought action against suppliers that did not meet required standards.
Responding in the House, Fadnavis said discussions had been held with the Union Coal Ministry on proper sampling and quality verification procedures and that future tenders would include safeguards to prevent inferior-grade coal and curb malpractice in procurement. He indicated that procurement safeguards would be embedded in contracts and compliance checks would be strengthened. The state utility Maharashtra State Power Generation Company, or Mahagenco, had reported outages at several thermal units linked to the fuel quality problem.
The chief minister also indicated that preliminary work and inspections had begun for an 800 MW supercritical thermal power project at Chandrapur to bolster capacity. He reported that Maharashtra's power demand had increased by around 4,000 MW while generation capacity had expanded by about 2,000 MW, leaving a shortfall that undermined supply reliability. Demand was expected to reach approximately 45,000 MW next year, he added, underscoring the need for both new generation and more reliable fuel supplies. Officials said that a combination of capacity expansion and stricter fuel quality control would be necessary to balance the system.
The state government planned to coordinate with central agencies and suppliers to tighten sampling, verification and procurement processes and to include contractual penalties for non-compliance. Monitoring of coal stocks at thermal plants would be enhanced and standards enforced to reduce unplanned outages. Improving domestic coal handling and logistics would be pursued alongside the Chandrapur project to ensure sustained output. Industry stakeholders and consumers would follow implementation of the new safeguards and tender terms.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Construction World.