CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Electricity Board has decided to consolidate the work of 20 contract companies in Mettur thermal power station to reduce the cost of coal handling works and to prevent irregularities in account verification.
There are four thermal power plants of 210 MW capacity each at Mettur, Salem district. Nearby, there is an expansion thermal power plant of 600 MW capacity. Coal is sent to these power plants by freight trains. Accordingly, the train goes up to the Mettur power station complex. 20 contract companies undertake the work of unloading from the train, sending the coal on the ‘conveyor belt’ and sending it to the ‘boiler’ section.
For this, a total of 90 crore rupees is spent annually. Coal handling is done by 20 contract companies, so there is no coordination between them. Mistakes are made in the checking of accounts by the companies. Even if one company is late in dispatching coal, it results in subsequent delays. It becomes difficult to identify who is at fault and take action.
The cost is also high due to this method. The contract period for each job is different like six months, one year and two years. As a result, engineers have to spend a lot of time in requesting ‘tenders’ to select contract companies. To avoid this, the power board has decided to carry out the work from unloading the coal arriving in the train to sending it to the boiler through a single company. A ‘tender’ has been called for selecting the most suitable company for the job.
The estimated cost of carrying out the contract work for five years is Rs 398 crore. By having a single company, any problem that may arise in coal handling, since that company is responsible, it can take quick action. It is estimated that the cost will be saved from 10 crore to 15 crore rupees per year.
North Chennai first
Four companies have taken up the coal handling work at North Chennai Power Station, Tiruvallur District. Due to irregularities in their accounts etc., to prevent it and reduce costs, a contract was recently awarded for handling coal through a single company.
Subscribe Dinamalar channel for new news