Hyderabad/Vijayawada: With soaring electricity demand driven by El Nino and prolonged heat conditions, Telangana has sharply ramped up its consumption of Singareni coal, leaving neighbouring states, particularly Andhra Pradesh, facing steep cuts in supplies and forcing them to explore alternative fuel sources for thermal power generation.The Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) is currently diverting nearly 90% of its coal output to thermal power stations within Telangana, drastically scaling back supplies to utilities in AP, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Company officials said the state govt has directed Singareni to prioritise Telangana’s power requirements amid rising electricity consumption.According to SCCL, of the 40.51 lakh tonnes of coal supplied to power utilities in Aug, 36.25 lakh tonnes, nearly 90%, went to thermal power stations in Telangana. On average, the company supplied 1.30 lakh tonnes of coal a day, of which 1.16 lakh tonnes were dispatched to Telangana plants. Around half of the coal supplied within the state was consumed by Telangana Genco stations.The diversion has hit AP the hardest. Although AP has a fuel supply arrangement with SCCL and an annual allocation of 6.9 million metric tonnes for APGenco, supplies have virtually stopped over the past two months.Singareni officials said that while around 160 railway rakes had been supplied to AP up to July, only one rake was dispatched in Aug, meeting barely 0.3% of the state’s monthly requirement.Company officials maintained that SCCL is not AP’s primary coal supplier and noted that the state also has arrangements with Coal India Limited. They attributed the sharp reduction to the surge in Telangana’s own power demand over the past month.The cuts have extended to other states as well. Karnataka is currently receiving only 7% of its requirement from SCCL, while supplies to Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have fallen to around 0.4% and 1% respectively.The demand pressure is not limited to southern states. SCCL officials said power utilities across the country have sought additional coal supplies. Damodar Valley Corporation in West Bengal has sought one million tonnes, NSPCL Durgapur 1.2 million tonnes, APCPL Jhajjar one million tonnes and NTECL Tamil Nadu two million tonnes.Despite the commercial opportunities such demand presents, the SCCL said it was placing Telangana’s electricity needs ahead of all other requests.To augment supplies, coal from SCCL’s Naini mine in Odisha, where production has recently commenced, is also being transported to Telangana. The company has already dispatched one railway rake each from Naini to the Singareni thermal power plant at Jaipur and the Yadadri thermal power station.SCCL officials said the management has appointed five special officers to closely monitor coal production and transportation, ensuring timely dispatches to thermal power stations. The company is also coordinating with the railways to secure adequate rake availability.The disruption has triggered concern in Andhra Pradesh, where APGenco is seeking to maximise thermal generation to meet rising electricity demand. State energy authorities have written to SCCL seeking restoration of supplies and have also approached the Centre for intervention. However, there has been no breakthrough so far.Sources said Singareni has informed the Centre that it is struggling to meet demand even within Telangana, where thermal power stations require around 30 railway rakes of coal a day. Existing production levels, they said, are insufficient to satisfy all commitments after meeting the state’s priority requirements.Anticipating a prolonged disruption, Andhra Pradesh has begun exploring alternative sources. APGenco has identified Mahanadi Coalfields Limited in Odisha and Eastern Coalfields Limited in West Bengal as potential substitutes, citing the availability of coal grades comparable to Singareni’s supplies.The AP govt is now planning to seek diversion of a substantial portion of its Singareni-linked allocation to MCL and ECL to ensure uninterrupted fuel availability for its thermal power stations. Officials believe dependence on Singareni alone may no longer be viable as Telangana continues to retain the bulk of its coal production to meet its own soaring power demand.
