Arup Roy Choudhury, the Chairman and Managing Director of state-run NTPC has said dismissed reports suggesting that the state run companies befitted from the failure of the government to auction coal assets in the country.

He said that NTPC did not earn any windfall profit from the coal produced from the mines because the CERC-regulated regime makes the cost of coal from these mines a pass-through in the power tariff. Thus, the ultimate benefit in cost savings will be given to the users.

Mr. Choudhary poibted out that coal mines were allotted to the company because Coal India was not able to meet some its requirements for coal. NTPC also had to carry out much work on the mines before beginning production like carrying out surveys and soil investigation, obtaining environmental clearance, mining plan approval.

NTPC has already appointed Mine Developer-cum-Operator (MDO) for one mine and will appoint MDO for two more mines soon. It is also carrying out removal of over-burden in one of the mines.

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has said that the government should introduce competitive bidding for allocation of captive coal blocks in the country.