Tata Power may not source coal from RI for Mundra plant

India?s Tata Power may cut dependence on Indonesian coal and explore other geographies to source the fuel for expansion of its 4,000 MW Mundra ultra mega power project (UMPP) in Gujarat, reports said.

The company owns stake in Indonesian coal giant PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC).

"It (import) could be from any market globally because after the HBA (Indonesian government-administered coal benchmark) price regime was implemented in Indonesia, we get no advantage at all from ownership," Tata Power managing director Anil Sardana told PTI as quoted by various reports seen on Monday.

He said the coal for Mundra project expansion can be sourced from any other country and any other mine because one gets it at the market-determined price.

HBA price of Indonesia is the monthly coal reference rate which is calculated on the monthly average of four international coal indices.

"The expansion was on the assumption that the units will be linked to market phenomenon and we would be using imported coal," Sardana said.

The company plans to expand the capacity of its Mundra project by 1,500 MW by adding two units. (*)