With unavailability of coal posing hurdle to 1320 Mw expansion plan of Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC), the only state-owned thermal power generator, the state government has sought interim coal linkage from Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) from its Basundhara group of mines.

The government has requested MCL to provide interim coal requirement to the tune of 16 million tonnes to OPGC to feed two new units of 660 Mw each over a period of three years from the Basundhara group of mines beginning from the later part of 2016-17, when the expansion project is expected to go on stream.