Decommissioning of Thermal Power Station I at NLC deferred

CUDDALORE: 

         The 49-year-old Thermal Power Station I at Neyveli, which was nearing its extended life, will not be decomissioned for another five years following requests from the Tamil Nadu government and Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB), Neyveli Lignite Corporation has said. AR Ansari, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, NLC, said it had been decided earlier to taper down the power generation at the 600 mw power station in phases between 2011 and 2014. The power station was built in 1962 with Soviet assistance and is one of the oldest power plants in the country.

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Coal Ministry to play fair in NTPC-NLC tussle for coal blocks

    

    NLC’s request would be considered along with other companies at the time of bidding for blocks.

  In the tussle for coal blocks between power generator NTPC Ltd and Lignite miner Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC), the coal ministry has decided to play fair. It will entertain its public sector undertaking NLC's request for the allocation of blocks that earlier belonged to NTPC, only along with other companies during the bidding rounds that are due soon.

        The ministry had cancelled the allocation of five of the eight NTPC blocks earlier this year, alleging undue delays in their development. The power ministry had later intervened by requesting its coal sector counterpart to review its decision. While negotiations between the two ministries are still on, NLC has sought the allocation of three of the five blocks—Chatti Bariatu, Chatti Bariatu (South) and Kerandari.

        A senior coal ministry official told Business Standard there was no provision for allocating the blocks to NLC on a nomination basis. “There is a proper procedure that will be followed for allocation. NLC's request would be considered along with other companies at the time of bidding for blocks,” he said.

           The three blocks sought by NLC for power generation are located in Jharkhand and have combined reserves of over 800 million tonne (Mt). NLC's contentious demands, if met, would mark Lignite miner's foray into coal mining and coal-based power generation. It would also dent NTPC's long-term fuel securing strategy. NLC has a current lignite-based power generation capacity of 2,700 Mw and it plans to add another 5,000 Mw by setting up two coal-based plants of 2,000 Mw capacity each in Uttar Pradesh and Tamilnadu, and another 1,000 Mw plant in Tamilnadu. NLC's proposed plants would require around 20 Mt of coal annually. An e-mail sent to NLC Chairman A R Ansari for comments remained unanswered.

           NTPC is, however, hopeful of getting back the lost blocks. “NTPC is working full swing on these blocks on land acquisition, forest and environment clearance and we do not think our blocks would be taken,” said a senior company official. The Maharatna enterprise currently consumes around 150 Mt of coal to operate 36,000 Mw capacity annually. Its coal requirement is set to grow to 250 Mt by 2017, around 20 per cent of which would be met through captive coal production.

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NLC got 2nd Asia’s Best Employer Awards

 

         Shri S.K. Acharya, Director (HR) (third from left) receiving the HR Leadership Award’ by World HRD Congress in 2nd Asia’s Best Employer Awards ceremony 2011 at Singapore

           Shri S.K. Acharya, Director (HR) of Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd has been awarded the prestigious “HR leadership Award” by ‘World HRD Congress’ and the ‘Employer Branding Institute’ for his outstanding contribution in the field of Human Resource. The Award was conferred on him in the 2nd Asia’s Best Employer Awards Ceremony held at SUNTEC CITY, Singapore on 22ndJuly 2011.

            A passionate professional, Shri Acharya is known for his innovative approach to HR policies and practices that he has been demonstrating over last 3 decades of his career starting with Heavy Engineering Sector (BHEL), Power Sector (NTPC and NTPC - SAIL Power Co.) and now in Mining cum Power Sector as Director (HR) on the Board of NLC Ltd. With his motto ‘people at core’ he goes beyond the traditional mould of HR aligning people practices with business model of the organization.

             A widely traveled and well trained person in India and abroad, Shri Acharya lends his services in academics as a visiting faculty to many premier Business Schools and Management Institutions. As a life member of National Institute of Personnel Management (NIPM), Chairman, NIPM Neyveli Chapter and as member, HR committee of Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE), India, he is actively associated with promotional activities for enriching HR profession as a whole.  

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NLC seeks coal assets in Indonesia, South Africa

          India’s Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited (NLC) is seeking to acquire coal assets in Indonesia and South Africa through joint ventures (JVs) with local companies.

        The acquisitions would be used to source feedstock for the company’s expansion and greenfield thermal power projects in India. The coal blocks to be acquired in Indonesia and South Africa through JVs would be linked as raw material sources for NLC’s ongoing thermal power projects, like the thermal power station II expansion of two 250 MW units and the Tuticorin thermal power project, comprising two 500 MW units located in the southern Indian town of Tuticorin.

         NLC had taken a strategic decision to reduce lignite mining operations because of problems of land acquisition and mining of hard rock surfaces in the country and instead leverage its mining capabilities to develop mines overseas and expand thermal power generating capacities within India, linked to its overseas assets, company officials said. NLC might even consider two separate JV partners for Indonesia and South Africa.

         However, a final decision will be taken only after geological confirmation of the coal reserves and commercial proposals to be submitted by proposed JV partners, the officials said. NLC would be willing to transport the coal extracted from overseas blocks in Indonesia and South Africa in its entirety to domestic thermal power plants or share the extracted coal with its proposed JV partner, depending on the agreement that may be concluded between the companies and the mineable reserves of the blocks acquired.

        Meanwhile, NLC has proposed setting up a 1 000 MW coal-based power plant in Ib Valley in the eastern India state of Orissa in collaboration with Mahanadi Coalfields (MCL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Coal India, the world’s largest coal miner. The project would entail an investment of $1-billion. NLC and MCL have a separate JV to develop a coal reserve in Talabira, Orissa that will produce 20-million tons of coal a year, part of which would be linked to feed the Ib Valley power project.

           NLC, which operates predominantly in southern India, has three lignite reserves that produces 10.5-million tons, three-million tons and 10.5-million tons of lignite respectively. The company also operates three lignite-based power plants in southern India with generating capacities of 600 MW, 1 470 MW and 420 MW respectively.

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NLC to adopt e-contract system

CUDDALORE: 

          The Neyveli Lignite Corporation, a Navratna company, will soon adopt the e-contract system to ensure transparency in the execution of works assigned on a contractual basis. The Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur, has been working on the project, according to A.R.Ansari, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, NLC.

         He was addressing a meeting convened on the NLC premises for reviewing and evaluating the Integrity Pact programme, attended by independent external monitors and senior executives. Mr Ansari said that already the e-auction, e-procurement, e-payment and e-tender systems were in vogue in the NLC. These measures would ensure transparency in the functioning of the NLC and give no room for criticism. The pact had come into force after a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the Transparency International (India) on December 29, 2007.

           The pact provided for ethical practices and honest dealings with the suppliers, service providers and contractors, and, would be applicable to the contracts valued at Rs 1 crore and above. The implementation of the pact was being monitored by the government machinery and independent external monitors. The present review meeting was held to make the officials and the contractors familiarise with the guidelines of the pact and to sort out the problems, if any, that might crop up while awarding or executing the contracts.

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NLC celebrates 54th raising day

NEYVELI: 

      The Neyveli Lignite Corporation today celebrated its 54th raising day at a function held at the corporate office here in which Chairman-cum-Managing Director A.R. Ansari hoisted the newly launched public sector flag.

          The flag was introduced by President Pratibha Patil last month in recognition of the significant role played by the public sector undertakings in the country's economy. With 15 lakh employees, these organisations were contributing 12 per cent of the Gross Domestic Products (GDP). Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Ansari recounted the travails underwent by the NLC ever since former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru inaugurated the lignite mining operation here on May 20, 1957.

          The Chairman said that on the occasion Nehru observed that “there should be a push towards industrial development. This lignite project promises to give that push.” He hoped that with NLC could rise to the Maha Navratna status by increasing its power generation capacity to 15,000 MW and turnover to Rs 20,000 crores. He categorically said that the NLC was aggressively pursuing its goal of tapping renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar power. However, it would not venture into hydro-power and nuclear power projects because of long their gestation period and capital-intensive nature.

         Mr. Ansari underscored the point that in the highly competitive environment the NLC would have to focus on achieving cost effectiveness or in other words cutting the cost of production and hoped that the officials and employees would cooperate with the management in this endeavour. NLC Directors B.Surender Mohan, R.Kandasamy, K.Sekar, J.Mahilselvan and S.K.Acharya and others participated.

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