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To minimise disputes between the buyer and Coal India, the government on Monday notified that third party coal samplers will be appointed and accredited by the Central Institute for Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR).
The move was prompted by frequent disputes between Central Government public sector units NTPC and Coal India over fuel quality.
The Coal Ministry has been focussing on methods to minimise such disputes and allowed third party sampling of coal last year. However, disputes then arose over the process followed by such samplers.
Accreditation of such third party samplers will remove such disputes, Coal Secretary, Anil Swarup said on Monday.
“By next month, CIMFR will appoint a list of third party samplers. The samples collected shall be tested according to the Bureau of Indian Standards’ norms,” he added.
Under the new guidelines, four samples will be collected. One will be used for analysis by the third party, one each will be given to the buyer and the seller and one will be kept as a referee sample.
“The third party agency shall communicate the analysis results in 18 days. If any party has an issue they can raise a dispute in seven days following which the referee sample will be tested in Government labs to settle the dispute,” Swarup added.
Swarup also said the testing will be at the loading end since Coal India sells its coal on a FOR or Free on Railway basis under which the responsibility of the fuel in transit lies with the buyer. Further, a committee has been constituted under the co-chairmanship of Director (Operation) NTPC and Director (Marketing) Coal India Ltd for looking into further modification of the guidelines, if required.
The committee will also have members from the Central Electricity Authority, Railways and other state-owned power utilities.
To ensure that disputes with regard to the grade of coal are minimised, the Coal Controller Office will be able to outsource the sampling analysis of grade of coal.
Tapering linkages In another significant decision, the Coal Ministry has decided to provide tapering linkages to power plants of Central or State Government public sector units that have been allotted coal blocks under the Government dispensation route.
The move is for those plants that have been allotted coal blocks where development may take some time.
The Ministry has already granted a tapering linkage to NTPC’s 4,000-MW Ramagundam plant in Telangana.
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