Coal dispatch may exceed one billion tonnes this fiscal: Coal ministry

The coal ministry on Thursday said the dispatch of coal is likely to exceed one billion tonnes in the current financial year.

The coal ministry has set a target to produce and dispatch 1,012 million tonnes (MT) of coal to consumers during the ongoing fiscal.

"During the second half of the year, the rate of production and dispatch is normally higher than the first half of the year. It is, therefore, expected that this year's dispatch of coal would exceed the one billion tonne mark," the coal ministry said in a statement.

During the last financial year, coal dispatch of 500 MT happened as on November 9. During the current year, the 500 MT dispatch mark has been achieved 23 days in advance.

"Achieving record high performance, the Ministry has been able to dispatch 500 MT coal as on October 17 2023. Dispatch of 500 MT of coal in 200 days, despite the monsoon season, in the first half of the year, is an outstanding achievement," it said.

Out of 500 MT of coal dispatch, 416.57 MT has been for the power sector and 84.77 MT for the non-regulatory sector.

"The growth of coal transport to the power sector year-to-year is 7.27 per cent and growth to the non-regulated sector year-to-year is 38.02 per cent," it said.

Last financial year as on March 31, 2023, 893.19 million tonnes of coal was dispatched.

Coal India Ltd (CIL), Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) and captive/commercial mines all have contributed to this achievement of the coal ministry.

CIL accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output.

Procurement exceed under GeM

The ministry has also notofied that procurement through Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has exceeded the target for the current year. GeM is an online platform for public procurement in the country.

"As on October 15, 2023, the Ministry of Coal has surpassed its GeM procurement target for the current year, reaching Rs 28,665 crore, out of the total procurement of Rs 39,607 crore," an official statement said.

In FY 2020-21, the platform facilitated a total e-procurement of Rs 477 crore. From FY21 to FY23, e-procurement through GeM has shown continuous growth, according to the ministry.

"The percentage of procurement through GeM out of total procurement has significantly increased, from 0.49 per cent in FY 2020-21 to 72 per cent in FY 2023-24 (till October 15)," it added.