Coal availability is comfortable for the country’s coal-fired thermal power plants, with stocks of 33.8 million tonnes (MTs) of the fuel as of April-end, up 62% year-on-year, Coal India said on Tuesday. In a stock exchange filing, Coal India (CIL), the country’s largest coal miner, said coal supplies to the coal-fired plants rose to 50.6 MTs in April, 2023, compared to 49.3 MTs of last year’s April.
Coal inventory at CIL’s pitheads stood at 64.6 MT as of April, 2023 end, which was 13% higher than same period last year. “Higher production by CIL ensured stocks reducing only 4.9 MT during the month. CIL began the fiscal with a coal stock of 69.5 MT,” according to the filing.
“Hopefully there would be no criticality on account of coal,” said a senior official of CIL. The state-run coal miner’s production in April grew by 7.7% to 57.6 MT. The volume increase of 4.1 MT was achieved over a high base of 53.5 MT of April, 2022. All the subsidiaries of CIL registered the highest ever production for the month of April, except Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL).
“Production could have been even higher by around 1 MT but for the stoppage of work for four days by contractual workers in Talcher coalfields of MCL (Mahanadi Coalfields Limited),” the Coal India official said.
CIL’s coal supplies shot up to 62.3 MT in April, 2023, ahead by nearly 5 MT against the comparable month of last year when the off-take was 57.4 MT. The 8.6% growth during the month was built over a high base. All of CIL’s producing units logged growth.
Stabilising the demand from the power sector, CIL’s focus on ramping up coal delivery to Non-Regulated Sector (NRS) witnessed a sharp 44% growth in April this year, the company said, adding it supplied 11.8 MT to its NRS customers compared to 8.2 MT of April last year.
“There is a total 115 MT of coal stock in the system which includes 33.8 MT at domestic coal based at power plants; CIL pitheads 64.6 MT; stock at private washeries, goods sheds, captive mines and ports 13.3 MT while coal in rakes on run, that is, coal in transit is 3.5 MT,” the company informed.