Minister allays coal shortage concerns

The State government was making all efforts to ensure coal supply for thermal power plants, and hence, the public need not worry about the possibility of power cuts, Electricity Minister P. Thangamani said in the Assembly on Tuesday.

In his reply to AIADMK MLA S. Semmalai (Mettur constituency), who raised the issue of coal shortage in the State and the possibility of power cuts, Mr. Thangamani noted that the demand for coal was generally high in thermal plants across the country during summers.

“Since thermal power plants across the country are running to capacity, the demand for coal is high during the summer. We have raised our demand with the Centre and they have agreed to import coal to partially cater to our needs. About 20 lakh metric tonnes of coal is coming,” Mr. Thangamani said.

The CM had on multiple occasions raised the issue with the Centre, and there had also been a meeting with the Union Railways Minister to reduce the freight charges for transporting coal, Mr. Thangamani said, and noted that the coal stock was presently available for five days, but that there was no need to be alarmed.

Earlier, Speaker P. Dhanapal made obituary references over the death of former legislators S. Madhavan, K.K.G. Mutthiah, Sa. Ganesan, P. Appavoo, R. Samy, J. Guru alias Gurunathan and Boopathi Mariappan. The House observed silence for a few seconds as a mark of respect.