Allaying fears of coal supply shortage, state-owned Coal India on Monday said it is concentrating its efforts to meet the projected demand of the power sector on a priority basis. The state-owned coal miner in this fiscal till March 24 has supplied an all-time high of 528 million tonnes (MT) of coal to the country's power utilities. This is 98.5 percent of the pro-rated demand of 536 MT projected by the Ministry of Power and the Central Electricity Authority.

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"Coal India Ltd (CIL) allays the supply shortfall apprehension of the power sector and is concentrating its efforts to meet the projected coal demand of this regulated sector on priority basis," the company said in a statement. CIL is focused on meeting its despatch commitment to the country's power stations as the supply numbers indicate.

The current trend of coal stock accumulation indicates CIL opening the fiscal FY2022-23 with above 60 MT at its pithead. The stockpile of domestic coal at power plants is expected to rise to around 25 MT by the closure of the fiscal, the bulk of it augmented by CIL's supplies.

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Further, an additional 4.5 MT will be available at goods sheds, washeries and ports. Indigenous coal stock at power houses monitored by the CEA stood at 23.7 MT as of March 24. CIL is cognizant of the importance of meeting increased coal demand of the power sector as the generation will step into higher orbit with the advent of summer. With sufficient coal in the system and stepping up its production, CIL is geared to meet the summer demand.

CIL has offered a total of an additional 11.2 MT coal in two rounds on 'as is where is basis', to boost coal stocks at the generating units, when an unprecedented spike in the power generation was witnessed in September 2021. The offer was made to 12 central and state gencos from CIL's highly stocked mines through road-cum-rail mode. With 35 MT of coal lifted through special forward e-auction window, meant for power sector, the Year-on-Year growth was 53 percent till date.

"Power houses without power purchase agreement (PPA) have no cause for worry as they are eligible for participation under a separate auction window called SHAKTI B(viii-a)," it said. CIL's priority is ensuring adequate supplies to the power sector and see that the nation gets power at just price. The aim is to securitise energy at least cost, it added.

CIL accounts for over 80 percent of the domestic coal output.

First Published:Mar 28, 2022 5:23 PM IST