Ministry of Power calls for transparency in fly ash auction

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Power asked thermal power plants to auction fly ash through a transparent bidding process.

The Ministry of Power informed the media that the power plants must auction the fly ash invariably through a transparent bidding process, and on 22nd September 2021, an advisory was released by the ministry for this purpose. It will lessen the tariff of electricity and burden on the customers.

As per the statement, On Wednesday, R K Singh, Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy, held a meeting to evaluate the status of fly ash transportation to end-users and the use of fly ash.

The Chairperson of the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), CMD of NTPC, chairman of DVC, and senior authorities of the ministry attended the meeting. The advisory said that the power plants shall render the fly ash to end-users through a transparent bidding process only.

It stated that if after bidding or auction some quantity of fly ash remains unused, then only, as one of the alternatives, it could be considered to be given free of cost on a first-come-first-served basis if the user agency is ready to bear the transportation charge.

If ash remains unused even after the measures taken as above, the thermal power plant (TPP) shall bear the transportation cost of fly ash to be given free to eligible projects.

The end-users shall be bound to source the fly ash from the nearest TPPs to decrease the transportation cost. If the nearest TPP refuses to do so, the end-user project shall request the power ministry for accurate directions, it added.

According to the provisions of a notification by the environment ministry, the cost of transportation wherever needed to be borne by the power plants will be determined on a competitive bidding basis only.

Based on competitive bidding for transportation in slabs of 50 km, thermal power plants must form a panel of transportation agencies every year, which may be used for the period.

TPPs must float tenders well in advance so that a transportation panel is in place as soon as the previous panel terminates. There should not be a gap between the expiry of one panel and the fresh panel finalisation, it added.

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