By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, October 13, 2019: Faced with shortage of coal due to strike by locals at Talcher and IB valley collieries under the Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), the Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC) has reportedly decided to shut one of its units on Sunday night.

The ongoing agitations at collieries by local people demanding employment have affected coal supplies to various industrial units, an official said on Friday.

The OPGC requires 24,000 metric tonne coal daily to run its four units. But the MCL is able to supply only 14,000 metric tonne coal to OPGC due to agitations by locals at different mines in the State.

The Lakhanpur Open Cast Project (OCP) is supposed to produce around 65,000 tonne of coal daily but it has now come down to 26,000 tonnes due to disturbances. The state owned OPGC is one of the major consumers of coal from Lakhanpur OCP.

MCL has been losing around Rs 1.47 crore revenue directly while the government exchequer is losing Rs 20.58 lakh per day due to the ongoing agitations, officials said.