Coal supply to power sector up 7% at 204 mn tonnes in April-Sept

Coal Secretary said there was no shortage of coal and blamed power producers for low fuel stocks at plants

Supply of coal by state-owned CIL to the power sector in the first six months of the ongoing fiscal increased 6.7 per cent to 204.5 million tonnes even as power producers rued over low coal stock at their plants.

CIL's (Coal India Ltd) dispatch to the power sector in April-September 2016-17 was 191.5 million tonnes (MT), according to government data.

In September too, the fuel supply increased 17 per cent to 32 MT against 27.4 MT in the same month of the previous fiscal, the data said.

State-run Singareni Collieries Company supplied 25 MT coal in April-September 2017-18, registering 10.4 per cent growth over the corresponding period of 2016-17.

Coal Secretary Susheel Kumar had recently said there was no shortage of coal and blamed power producers for low fuel stocks at plants.

"The sentiment that is being created by some people is just to meet their own ends ... so as to get more and more coal. This is not right. This sentiment should not be created. There is no shortage of coal," Kumar had said.

He said pit head stock of Coal India as on October 10 was at 30.3 MT.

"The root cause of all this problem is that many power plants have not followed the CEA (Central Electricity Authority) guidelines of stocking coal for 22 days. This is not the coal ministry's instruction. This is the instruction by the ministry of power," Kumar explained.

The secretary had said if power plants do not stock dry fuel as per the guidelines of CEA, then during monsoons, there would be disruptions.

He had said people have to maintain discipline and adhere to the guidelines.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had recently asked the Centre to ensure an adequate supply of coal and early allocation of a coal block in Odisha to meet the severe fuel shortage faced by power units in his state.

Rajasthan Urja Vikas Nigam had also earlier said power generation at thermal power stations has reduced by 2,700 MW due to a shortage of coal, forcing it to resort to load shedding in the state.