Coal India arm provides 76.6% coal to power producers in current month

Coal India arm MCL on Monday said that on average, 76.6 per cent of coal was provided to power producers during the current month, even as the country's electricity-generating plants are grappling with coal shortages.

"On an average, 76.6 per cent coal has been provided to power consumers during the current month, while 20.4 per cent to the non-power consumers," Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) said in a statement.

MCL on Sunday supplied 5.34 lakh tonne coal to consumers with the highest ever of 62 rakes from its Talcher Coalfields, maintaining an average of more than half-a-million tonnes of coal provided to consumers during the current month, the company said.

At least 95 rakes carrying coal mines to consumers were despatched from Talcher and Ib Valley coalfields of the company, while 23 rakes were supplied through merry-go-round (MGR), Mahanadi Coalfields said.

Apart from this, 1.4 lakh tonne coal was despatched through road mode, it said in a statement.

Appreciating the planning and operational teams, the company's Chairman and Managing Director P K Sinha said, "We have to continue in the same spirit to ensure that our consumers have enough coal."

To date, MCL has produced about 75 million tonnes of coal while despatched more than 85 million tonnes to different consumers.

Despite restrictions due to COVID-19 and unprecedented rains, MCL has succeeded in maintaining a double-digit growth over last year in both production and dispatch of coal.

MCL, the leading subsidiary of Coal India Ltd, has a coal production target of 163 million tonnes and a despatch of 182 million tonnes.

Coal India Ltd (CIL) accounts for over 80 per cent of the total domestic coal output.