JAIPUR: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will on Friday meet his Chhattisgarh counterpart Bhupesh Baghel in Raipur regarding the supply of coal for power houses in his state.
The meeting, which is scheduled from 2 p.m to 2.30 p.m, will deliberate on the coal crisis issue as the desert state is mainly dependent on Chhattisgarh for the coal required for the production of thermal power.
In 2015, the Centre had allotted 15 MTPA coal blocks at Parsa East-Kanta Basan (PEKB) in Chhattisgarh and five MTPA capacity at Parsa for 4340 MW power generation units to Rajasthan.
The first phase of Parsa East-Kanta Basan coal block was completed this month following which coal will no longer be supplied to Rajasthan which can lead to power crisis.
The Union Ministry of Forest, Environment and Climate Change and Ministry of Coal have given necessary approvals for supply of coal to Rajasthan from Parsa Call Block.
Now in the second phase, the approval related to the forest is under consideration before the Chhattisgarh government.
Most of the land area of Rajasthan is desert where neither hydro power nor coal is available for power generation.
In this context, the high officials of Rajasthan were in touch with the officials of Chhattisgarh and Chief Minister Gehlot also had talks with Chhattisgarh Chief Minister regarding this.