The power sector has placed a demand estimate of 874 million tonnes of coal before the coal ministry for the next fiscal starting April 1 for supply to its thermal power plants and be able to meet the increasing demand for power, coal minister Pralhad Joshi said on Wednesday. In FY24, the coal demand by the power sector stood at 821 million tonne.
“Their (power ministry’s) demand has been met (in FY24). They had asked for 821 million tonnes and it has been supplied, Joshi said while addressing media on the launch of PM Gati Shakti Master Plan in the coal sector . “For FY25, the power ministry has asked for 874 million tonnes of coal. We will fulfill this requirement also. We are going to cross 1 billion tonne coal production by this March.”
The minister also noted that the share of imported coal blending in the power sector has reduced by 28% in FY24 to 22.20 million tonne against 30.80 million tonne in 2022-23. “In the next 1-1.5 years, we will further reduce it to zero.”
Additionally, the coal ministry envisages a growth of 7% in its rake availability in FY25 compared to current fiscal and is actively engaged with the railway ministry to ensure adequate coal evacuation. The average availability of rakes for transportation of coal has improved to 392 rakes per day in the year 2023-24 from 369 rakes per day last fiscal, the minister said.
Coal secretary Amrit Lal Meena informed that presently the government is working on 37 railway projects in collaboration with the railway ministry and the work has already started. “Almost the entire investment in these projects is being done by the railway ministry,” Meena said.
As the government plans to add 80 GW of new thermal power capacity amid rising demand for power, the demand for coal by the power sector is set to rise to 1.16 billion tonnes by the year 2030, a rise of 46.3% from present levels, the coal ministry had earlier said. By the year 2047, power and other non-regulated sectors will alone require 1.7 billion tonnes of coal to be able to meet the peak demand.
The government further sees domestic coal production touching 2 billion tonnes per annum starting 2047 with zero imports of either coking or non-coking coal.
Releasing the plan, Joshi noted that it has information related to various projects, cases needing prompt resolution and it will streamline land use and enhance investments into coal mining projects.
