Govt. launches PRAKASH Portal for monitoring coal supply to power plants

Union Power Minister (Independent charge) Raj Kumar Singh and Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi have jointly launched PRAKASH– Power Rail Koyla Availability through Supply Harmony Portal in New Delhi.

About PRAKASH Portal

Objective of Portal: To bring better coordination for coal supplies among all stakeholders.

Need: After rainy season in 2019, coal stocks are higher at 17 million tonne (MT) as compared with over 11 MT in 2018 due to work done by the ministry in this direction. Also the coal production has increased 165 MT in past five years.

Developed By: The portal is developed by NTPC (Electric power distribution company). It sources data from different stakeholders such as CEA (Central Electricity Authority), Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) and coal companies.

Reports Format: Although all reports are available in PDF and Excel format but to present information in a user-friendly method, the portal gives graphical representation of reports with details shown on the map of India. At present, the portal will make available four reports- Daily Power Plant Status, Plant Exception Report, Coal Dispatch Report and Periodic Power Plant Status.

Function:

The portal is designed to help in mapping as well as monitoring entire coal supply chain for power plants, coal stock at supply end (mines), coal quantities/rakes planned, coal quantity in transit and coal availability at power generating station.

It makes available valuable information on a single platform, which will help coal companies track stocks and coal requirement at power stations for effective production planning.

The Indian Railways will plan to place rakes as per actual coal available at siding and stock available at power stations, but besides this, power stations can also plan their future schedule by knowing rakes in pipe line and also the expected time to reach. Portal will also provide information about coal stock at power generating station.

The Union Ministries of power and coal, Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and Power System Operation Corporation Ltd (PSOCL) can review overall availability of coal at thermal power plants in different regions.

The portal is for transparency and better coordination among stakeholders, including Coal India Ltd (CIL), Indian Railways, power utilities as well as ministries of coal and power, for coal supplies to power plants. It is designed in a way to help in mapping and monitoring entire coal supply chain for power plants.

Significance: The portal is an important step in ensuring adequate availability and optimum utilization of coal at thermal power plants.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2019