The Centre has stepped up coal movement to thermal power plants, with railway rake loading surging 20% in four days to 444 rakes on Sept 6 from 370 on Sept 3, as inventories at generating stations came under increasing pressure following rain-related disruptions to mining and transportation.
The number of thermal power plants facing critical coal stock levels rose to 58 on Sept 6 from 45 at the start of the month, while overall coal inventories at generating stations slipped to 46% of normative requirements from 49% over the same period.
The increase in stressed plants has prompted the coal ministry to intensify supplies, with rake loading rising every day since Sept 3. It increased from 370 rakes on September 3 to 387 on Sept 4, 413 on Sept 5 and 444 on Sept 6, translating into a net addition of 74 rakes a day over the four-day period. The increase on Sept 6 alone was 31 rakes.
“The number of critical thermal plants is being closely monitored, with corrective coal supply measures already in place to further ease the position at these plants,” the ministry of coal said on Monday.
Of the plants facing low stocks, 53 are domestic coal-based stations. Plants with inventories below 25% of their normative requirement are categorised as critical, while some stations have coal sufficient for less than three days of generation.
Heavy rainfall across key coal-producing states, including Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, had affected mining operations and slowed transportation of the fuel to power plants. With rainfall receding, both production and dispatches have started recovering.
Coal India (CIL) average daily production rose 35% to around 1.83 million tonnes (MT) on September 6 from about 1.36 MT during the first three rain-affected days of the month. At Northern Coalfields Ltd, average daily output increased around 61% to 0.29 MT from 0.18 MT, while South Eastern Coalfields Ltd recorded a 33% rise to 0.20 MT from 0.15 MT.
The improvement in production has translated into higher supplies to generators. CIL’s average daily dispatch to the power sector increased 24% to 1.7 MT on September 6 from around 1.37 MT during the first three days of September. Power-sector dispatch from NCL rose 56% to 0.28 MT, while SECL recorded a 23% increase to 0.37 MT.
The improvement in rail movement has also been broad-based. Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd recorded the sharpest single-day increase on September 6, adding 12 rakes to reach 111 rakes a day. Captive block loading increased by six rakes to 72, while Bharat Coking Coal Ltd added eight rakes to reach 25.
NCL increased loading by three rakes to 35, while private washeries and goods sheds added three to reach 42. Central Coalfields and SECL increased loading by two and one rakes, respectively, to 36 and 46. Eastern Coalfields and Western Coalfields maintained loading at 23 and 29 rakes. Total CIL siding loading increased by 26 rakes to 305 rakes on September 6.
Mining readiness has also improved as weather conditions stabilised. CIL’s average daily overburden removal more than doubled to 5.1 million cubic metres on September 6 from 2.5 million cubic metres during the first three days of the month. Overburden removal increased fourfold at NCL and more than three times at SECL.
CIL has re-deployed resources to accelerate overburden removal, dewater lower coal seams and restore rain-affected haul roads and transportation routes. It is also offering coal beyond the monthly scheduled quantity to interested central and state generating companies and independent power producers for lifting by road. Delivery orders for critical power plants using road transport are being prioritised.
The pressure at generating stations comes despite substantial coal availability at the production end. CIL continues to hold around 76 MT of coal at its pitheads, while supplies are being pushed towards power plants. Coal accounts for about three-fourths of India’s electricity generation, making timely fuel movement critical for generation availability.