POOL PRICING: CEA COUNTERS VIEWS OF COAL INDIA INDEPENDENT DIRECTORS

The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has said that Coal India's independent directors' observation that the miner would incur losses of Rs 3,000 crore by implementing the proposal for pool pricing is "not correct". The CEA, which furnished details to the Power Ministry said that it is "not favouring the power companies" and if fuel supplies at 80 per cent of plants' demand have to be met, some of that gap has to be met by imported coal. The independent directors alleged that CEA is favouring power companies and their price pooling proposal will benefit them by offering cheaper imported coal.