Rajasthan Coal Crisis: CM Ashok Gehlot again pleaded with Sonia Gandhi regarding the problem of coal, know what is the matter

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has once again raised the issue of the coal problem with Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has appealed to Sonia Gandhi for the second time within three months for the approval of coal mines by the Chhattisgarh government. Let us inform you that, coal is allocated from the mines of Chhattisgarh to the power generation units in Rajasthan, but the Chhattisgarh government has not yet given approval.

the issue was raised earlier

According to PTI, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot wrote a letter to Sonia Gandhi on 1 December 2021 and again on 10 February. Gehlot wrote in the letter that due to the shortage of coal, the state of Rajasthan may face a power crisis. He had said, the shortage of coal may impact the work of the Rajasthan government, and may create a precarious situation, as both the states are ruled by Congress. I request you to kindly intervene, and direct the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh to ensure the arrangement of all necessary pending approvals for the coal blocks. So that Rajasthan can be saved from a power crisis in the state in the future.

The impact on the state's power supply

According to reports, parts of Rajasthan witnessed several hours of power cuts in September and October 2021 after coal stocks at power plants supplying power to the state ran out. After this CM Ashok Gehlot also wrote a letter to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. Even a month after this letter was written, the Bhupesh Baghel government of Chhattisgarh did not respond to it. After which CM Ashok Gehlot put this matter in front of Sonia Gandhi.

Ashok Gehlot appeals to Sonia Gandhi

CM Ashok Gehlot has appealed to Sonia Gandhi that it is necessary to continue mining from this coal block, and efforts are being made for this with the highest priority. If there are delays in the new mines, and there is a shortage of coal in the existing mines, the electricity rates in Rajasthan will increase further. And the state will have to buy coal at expensive prices, which will increase the cost and burden on the consumer. According to Gehlot, the Parsa coal block has the potential to produce 5 million tonnes of coal per year. Similarly, Kante Extension can produce 9 million tonnes of coal annually.

Let us tell you that in 2015, the Central Government had allotted three coal blocks to Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited in the Surguja district of Chhattisgarh. But only one of them could start production. Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited produces 15 million tonnes of coal from Parsa East and Kante Extension (PEKB) block, and the opening of other Parsa and Kante extension blocks will double the production. Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited's 4,340 MW power plants are connected to the PEKB coal block in Chhattisgarh. The Phase-I mining of this coal block from 762 hectares of forest land started in the year 2013 and is currently working at maximum capacity. Mining from this coal block is likely to end after February 2022.