By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, April 18, 2015 :

This will be the first of its kind SPV in the country for evacuation of coal.

“It will be the first of its kind SPV in the country. Odisha government will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Coal and Railways ministries on April 20 for the SPV.  The SPV will be formed to evacuate coal. Under this SPV, project specific SPVs can be formed where private partners can have equity participation,” the state commerce and transport secretary, Sanjay Rastogi, said on Friday.

While the state government will have 10 per cent equity, the Ministry of Coal or its PSU, Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), a Coal India subsidiary, will have 64 per cent equity and the Railways ministry through any of its PSUs- Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) or IRCON will hold 26 per cent share.

Evacuation of coal from pitheads has assumed significance as Coal India and its subsidiaries plan to increase production to the power plants. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought increased power generation to meet the growing demands for electricity.

Stockpiling of coal at pitheads has been a pressing problem for both the Centre and the state government. The SPVs have been planned for evacuating coal.