Rip Van Winkle, not just Santa Claus, is to blame for the power shortage that has been tormenting Bengal for the past few days.
While coal supplies have been hit because of a combination of factors, including the new government's reluctance to raise tariff, years of stupor and short-sight are also exacting a price now.
Most of Bengal's power generation units, such as those in Bandel, Kolaghat and Santaldih, were set up 25 to 40 years ago. The boilers used in these plants are capable of using only high-grade coal, which was abundant in the eastern region at that time.
But while decision-makers and the Opposition in Bengal snored like Rip Van Winkle, the world changed.
The gap in the costs of generating power with premium coal, which is largely used in furnaces, and the inferior grade began to widen as the world developed a voracious appetite for raw materials.
The Centre also decided to bring about price parity between domestic coal and imports as part of the integrated energy policy of 2006.
Coal India Ltd, which meets most of Bengal's needs, did not change the price initially, officials said. However, since February, it has raised the price of A and B grade coal by 100 per cent while leaving the inferior varieties such as D and E untouched.
This not only meant Bengal's power production cost went up but also that it could not find enough high-quality coal to fire up its plants. With Bengal's dues crossing Rs 500 crore, Coal India asked the state to pick up more coal from Mahanadi Coal Fields in Orissa, instead of the traditional source at Eastern Coalfields that itself is in financial trouble.
However, the Bengal plants found it difficult to run on the low-grade coal from Mahanadi, leading to recurring snags.
The fault lies not in the coal but in the technology, industry analysts said. Other states like Tamil Nadu foresaw the resource crunch and modernised or built new plants that can use low-grade coal that is at least three times more cost-efficient if used in power projects. (See chart)
Since the price difference between the high and lower grades was not that wide earlier, the decision-makers then did not appear to have spared too much thought to upgrading the plants. The four units of Bandel were built in 1965-66, four of Santaldih in 1974-75 and the three of Kolaghat in 1984.
By the time the Left Front government woke up, the land backlash, egged on by Trinamul which is in power now and grappling with the shortage, ensured that new projects could not be set up.
Had Bengal shown the foresight to upgrade the plants or undergo some pain to build new projects, the low-grade and cost-efficient coal could have been used now.
Bengal power players should have taken lessons from steel. The Indian steel industry did not care much about low-quality iron ore until China started devouring the mineral. Iron ore dust ' once miners used to pay truckers so that the residue could be cleared from the pithead ' suddenly became golden dust.
The local steel industry realised how the low-grade iron ore "fines" could be used to make steel. Since then, the industry started building facilities that can use the "fines".
The evening peak-hour shortfall in Bengal districts today hovered around 725MW. In Calcutta, the shortfall was 170MW. (See Metro)
The state government provided a soft loan of Rs 60 crore to the power distribution company to make a part-payment to Coal India. Power minister Manish Gupta said more coal was expected from Mahanadi and the situation would improve "gradually".
Coal India has decided to divert 4 million tonnes from e-auction to the general pool to combat the national shortage, aggravated by a spurt in power generation, rains and the Telangana agitation.
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