At the outset, on behalf of the entire CPSI family as well as on my own behalf, I wish a very happy, bright and fulfilling New Year 2021 to all energy professionals.

The year 2020 has been a very testing and tormenting period for humanity across the globe. The covid-19 pandemic started in February/March, spread like wildfire causing enormous damage both on health as well as economic front. Global cases of COVID-19 have exceeded 82 million with nearlytwo million loss of lives. Fortunately, with the successful development of a number of vaccines, 49 countries have already started vaccinating their population, albeit gradually. India has also started vaccination from 16th January. With the daily count having come down to below 14K, let us hope the pandemic wanes out completely in the coming months and the life becomes normal.

India’s energy sector, both coal and power, has displayed its prowess by maintaining coal production and electricity generation fully meeting the demand of services which were working albeit at reduced capacity during the lockdowns. With the industrial production badly interrupted, the economy suffered a big blow. The lockdown period saw pseudo environmentalists rejoicing the ‘Neela Aakash’ due to lowering of air pollution levels in the big cities. The blue sky was the feature that appeared because most vehicles were off the roads, but coal-fired plants were still operating. Therefore, coal alone is not to be blamed for high levels of air pollution. This has led to the government pushing the introduction of EVs at an accelerated pace. Renewable energy projects also got shot in the arm.

While on one hand the government has been working on coal sector reforms, MoEFCC issued a notification on 21stMay 2020, doing away with the use of washed coal with ash content 34% by power plants located more than 500 KM from the coal supply sources. This was a retrograde step by the government. There has been heavy criticism of this notification from many renowned energy experts and various others who are in the know of the high ash content of Indian coal and the quality of coal supplied to the power plants in general.

In order to get the factual position about the benefits accruing to the thermal power plants by using washed coal, CPSI constituted an Expert Group comprising highly experienced and knowledgeable subject experts. The report of the Expert Group which explicitly brought out the benefits accruing to the power plants in quantified terms was submitted to the Hon’ble Prime Minister and other concerned ministries.

While, officially there has been no response to our submission to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, this seemingly has led to the PMO taking a call on the compelling factors that had led the MoEFCC to issue the subject notification. As per reliable sources, the government was given an impression that by a certain power company that by using washing coal, that generation cost electricity increases by 30 to 35 per Kwh. Unfortunately, the government, without consulting the experts and the stakeholders, issued the notification doing away the requirement of use of washed coal in power plants. As per latest information, the Ministry of Power (MoP) has directed the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) to undertake a ‘field level analysis’ of the impact of the decision of doing away with the requirement of use of washed coal by the power plants. The committee constituted by CEA to undertake the study is reported to have completed its task and submitted its report. Since the findings of the ‘field level analysis’ carried out by the committee are reported to be positively in favour of use of washed coal, as per reliable sources, the concerned ministries are probably looking for some alibi or face-saving textual excuses to back down from the stand taken and representations made to the MoEFCC that led to the issuance of the 21st May, 2020 notification.

Government has recently taken a very positive step and set up a ‘Single Window’ portal for expediting the process of various clearances for making the mines operational in the shortest possible time. As per NITI Aayog’s projections, coal will continue as the dominant fuel in India contributing 65% to the total energy basket in 2035 and the share of coal fired electricity is projected to be 56% in 2030 and 42% in 2040. Therefore, for its responsible usage and sustainability, washing of coal is an imperative for India.In the overall economic interest Government must enforce washing of coal irrespective of distance from the supplying mines.

At the outset, I express deep regret as you were not able to access the web site of Coal Preparation Society of India (CPSI) for the last few months. This happened because some mischievous elements, taking advantage of complete lockdown due to Covid19, hacked the website. Initially, we did struggle to get our old website restored. But we didn’t succeed. Having failed in getting the old website restored, we have gone for a fresh website which is here before you.

As you all know, last year, we had very successfully hosted XIX International Coal Preparation Congress & Expo (ICPC). This major global event on coal was held in India after 37 years. The last one was the 9th ICPC held in 1982 in New Delhi. XIX ICPC witnessed a participation of about 450 including over 160 subject experts from more than 20 countries.

No doubt, everyone is aware of the catastrophic effects on human mind and health, caused by Covid19 pandemic across the globe with practically no exception. On 24 March 2020, the Government of India ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21 days. However, as the pandemic continued, lockdown was extended in many parts of India. It is still continuing albeit partly in many parts of the country. At the time of writing this note, as on 12th October 2020, the number of reported Corona Virus cases in India is 7,120,538 and number of causalities is reported to be 109,184. With the herculean efforts of the central and state governments, hospitals supported by the public and private organisations, the number of recovered cases is reported to be 6,149,535, which is 98% of the total number, which is a silver lining in the cloud.

Let us all hope that the prevailing pandemic comes to an end very soon and complete normalcy of life gets restored and all industrial activities start functioning with more vigour to be able to retrieve at least a part of the time and value lost due to Covid19.

Till such time the pandemic exists, it is the responsibility of each and every citizen to strictly comply with un-lockdown SOPs, stay safe and healthy.

Jai Hind,
R K Sachdev