Around 85% of fuel supply agreements have been signed: CoalMin

Says remaining FSAs will also be signed once the technical reasons are addressed

The Coal Ministry today said around 85% fuel supply pacts have been signed and the remaining would also be done once the technical glitches are addressed.

"Around 85% of the FSAs (Fuel Supply Agreements) have been signed and the remaining FSAs have not been signed due to technical reasons," Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal told reporters here.

"They (the remaining FSAs) will also be signed once those technical reasons are addressed," he added.

He, however, refused to comment on whether the government has set a fresh deadline for signing of the pacts.

When asked what the government is doing about outstanding dues which the power firms owe to Coal India, he said, "FM (Finance Minister) has taken this very seriously and has asked them (power firms) to soon disburse outstanding dues."

Amid continuous delays, the Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) had earlier said that timelines for signing of fuel supply pacts for power projects of 78,000 MW capacity should be met.

Two deadlines set recently for signing of the fuel supply agreements by Coal India (CIL) with the power producers could not be adhered to.

CCI had even directed the Power Minister to review the progress of the power projects on a daily basis with the secretaries of both Power and Coal Ministries.

Coal India has to sign 173 FSAs with power companies for a total capacity of 78,000 MW as directed by the Coal Ministry.

The Coal Ministry had earlier set the deadline of August 31 for signing of the FSAs which could not be met. Further, the second deadline of September 6 was also not achieved.

The CIL board had on August 3 approved signing of FSAs for a capacity of 78,000 MW instead of 60,678 MW earlier.