Land, coal availability challenges for power sector:Ratan Tata

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Problems pertaining to land and coal availability pose a challenge for the power sector, making it difficult to provide electricity at affordable rates, Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata said on Friday.

"The main fuel (for meeting the increasing energy needs) will be coal...there is a question on coal and land auction which will be the concern and has to be addressed later," Tata said at Tata Power's Annual General Meeting here.

"Availability of energy at affordable rates will be an area of challenge," he said.

The remarks come on a day when official auditor CAG's report was tabled in Parliament saying that the national exchequer lost part of Rs 1.86 lakh crore which private companies gained because coal blocks were given to them without competitive bidding.

Rapping the government for its failure to timely implement the competitive bidding mechanism for allocation of coal blocks, CAG on Friday said part of the Rs 1.86 lakh crore loss could have been tapped had the procedure been put in place earlier.

Tata Group companies Tata Steel and Tata Power have been named in the report as among the companies which have got the blocks in various states. Ratan Tata, who is scheduled to retire towards the end of this year after being at helm for over two decades, said the principle challenges for Tata Power emanate from land acquisition and environmental clearances.

Tata said the increasing population and higher standards of living are expected to double the demand for power by 2030.

"As we face the task, shortage of domestic coal and expensive gas are among the concerns which need to be sorted out," he said, stressing on the need for policy action to encourage gas-based power projects.