PIL in Supreme Court challenges DVC exporting concessional coal power to Bangladesh

Source – indiatimes.com

NEW DELHI: A public interest litigation has been filed in Supreme Court, challenging state-run Damodar Valley Corporation’s proposal to supply power to Bangladesh from power plants using concessional domestic coal.

The PIL, filed by advocate Piyush Joshi, questions DVC’s plan to use domestic coal for power at a time when the commodity is scarce for power plants in India. It also terms the move against “public interest”, arguing that Indians will suffer the consequences of emissions for generating power that they will not receive.
“..export of electricity generated from domestic coal is also against the established principles of environmental law and public interest since burning of domestic coal that has proven higher content of Sox and other polluting gases that are released into the environment in India,” the PIL said. “It cannot be permissible that the general public in India suffers the consequences of emissions of the use of domestic coal for generation of electricity and not receive benefit of the electricity so produced.”

DVC is a statutory corporation regulated by the Damodar Valley Corporation Act of 1948. The PIL said that the Act prohibits DVC from selling electricity outside Jharkhand and West Bengal. Also, the terms of coal allotment by Coal India provide that it has to be used for allocated purposes within India, the PIL said. A DVC spokesperson told ET that the company has not yet received intimation from the court.

The power ministry’s technical arm, Central Electricity Authority (CEA), recently allowed DVC, through its power trader NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd, to enter into long- and short-term power supply contracts of 300 MW each with Bangladesh. DVC won the contract to supply 300 MW of power to Bangladesh with long-term supply starting from January 2020 to May 2033, and short-term supply starting from when the 500 MW HVDC transmission line through Baharampur in West Bengal and Bheramara in Bangladesh  ..