From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: If Punjab wants the domestic coal for its thermal power plants from the coal mines in the eastern part of the country, it has been advised by the Power Ministry to take it first by sea over Sri Lanka to Daheh/Mundra ports in the West Coast and then by the rail rakes to Punjab.
It shall cost three times more than direct transport by the Indian Railways. Who owns Dahej and Mundra ports? Adani. In a tweet, Congress MP Manish Tewari says this is the way the Modi government promotes Adani with financial benefits, while the cost of the electricity shoots up in this exercise.
The Power Ministry’s Joint Secretary Piyush Singh has stressed in his letter on November 30, 2022 that this is not only for the thermal power plants of Punjab but also to the power plants in northern and western India requiring the domestic coal.
The new mode of lifting the domestic coal with at least one or two rakes per day from January 2023, the power ministry circular states.