Kolkata: In a first, West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd (WBPDCL) will sell coal to Maharatna PSU NTPC, marking the debut of a state power utility in the country supplying coal to a customer outside its own captive consumption.WBPDCL has also planned to sell three million tonnes of coal through e-auction, besides supplying five lakh tonnes to NTPC by March 31, 2027. At an average auction price of Rs 3,000 per tonne, the 3.5-million-tonne sale is expected to fetch the state power utility more than Rs 1,000 crore.Confirming the development on Tuesday, a senior power department official said: “WBPDCL has signed an MoU with NTPC to sell 5 lakh tonnes of coal by March 31, 2027. The first rake, comprising 3,500 tonnes, is being loaded from Tara coal mine. They will buy the coal at an auction-determined price, which will be decided when 3 million tonnes of coal are sold through e-auction.”WBPDCL currently produces around 22 million tonnes of coal annually from its five captive mines — Pachhwara North, Barjora (North), Gangaramchak and Gangaramchak-Bhadulia, Barjora and Tara (East and West) — which meet the entire coal requirement of its thermal power stations.According to officials, Centre recently approved state govt’s proposal to increase production from WBPDCL’s five captive coal blocks.“Centre has also allowed WBPDCL to sell the additional coal produced after meeting its own requirements. Accordingly, the company has taken steps to augment production by 3.5 million tonnes annually by the end of this fiscal. This additional production will be sold entirely,” a senior official said.The company plans to increase annual production from Pachhwara by three million tonnes and from Tara by another five lakh tonnes.“As per MMDR Act, 2021, an allottee can sell up to 50% of its annual coal production after meeting the requirement of the end-use plants and complying with all applicable taxes and levies. WBPDCL has an average daily coal consumption of around 60,000 tonnes, while its average production is higher. Since it now has surplus coal, it can sell the excess production,” the official added.According to industry veterans, WBPDCL is also the first power utility in India to have started production from its captive coal mines as well as power trading.The utility has made a significant shift towards coal self-reliance in recent years. In 2023, WBPDCL sourced 83% of its coal requirement from Coal India Ltd. However, since 2024-25, it has stopped procuring coal from Coal India and has been meeting 100% of its requirement from its captive mines.
