The coal requirement by the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in Odisha is pegged at 1,83,000 tonne for the FY17.

The state government has nominated state run Odisha Small Industries Corporation (OSIC) this year in addition to the local branch of National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) as the nodal agencies for the supply of coal to the coal consuming units, whose requirement is less than 4,200 tonne per annum for the current financial year.

NSIC has been allocated 1,08,000 tonnes and OSIC 75,000 tonne of coal for supply to the small and medium units in the state in FY17.

The coal requirement of a small and medium units is calculated by a joint capacity assessment made by concerned District Industries Centre (DIC) and MSME Development Institute under the Ministry of MSME (Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise), government of India.

After this, DIC general manager recommends the case to the specified state-nominated agency for distribution of fuel with the approval of the district collector.

It may be noted that the nodal agency NSIC has been effectively handling the supply of coal to the MSME units in the state after busting of a scam in this regard in 2010, which related to siphoning of crore of rupees through supply of coal at concessional rate to bogus small scale industries.

Interestingly, after the busting of the scam, the state government has once again chosen OSIC as a nodal agency for supply of fuel to the coal consuming units, sources said.

There were about 50 coal consuming units in Odisha that includes refractories, casting units, chemical units, coal briquettes, textile units, brick kilns etc.

It may be noted that for ease of doing business the tenure of FSA (fuel supply agreement) with Coal India Ltd has been increased from one year to two years.

Source: Business Standard