Coal Shortage

State-owned CIL on Tuesday allayed fears of coal shortage, saying it has built up a buffer of 168 million tonnes (MT) to meet increased demand during the summer season. The company said it has an adequate quantity to meet the generation capacity of domestic coal-based plants, even as daily consumption of the dry fuel by thermal power plants soared. In a statement, the PSU said its coal stocks at domestic coal-based power plants stood at 47.6 million tonnes (MT) as on May 23, while inventory at the mine heads was at a comfortable 113.5 MT on May 24, up about 10 per cent from the year-ago, adding that this level is sufficient to meet 19 days of consumption. "Added to this, around three MT of coal is awaiting transit points such as goods sheds, private washeries and ports. Rakes on Run, that is, coal in transit at any point of time is around 4 MT, making a total of 168 MT of coal available in the system," the statement said. Compression of coal stock levels at coal-fired plants during

The coal sector is likely to witness a spate of activities in the upcoming year from launching maiden coal exchange to facilitating trading and rate determination of dry-fuel to meet the booming demand of the economy. The government also intends to work more closely in the area of coal gasification as it is on a high priority list for energy transition. Coal gasification is a cleaner option compared to burning of coal as it facilitates utilisation of the chemical properties of dry fuel. Talking to PTI, Coal Additional Secretary Rupinder Brar said that "the demand (for coal) is extremely important. And we do see demand growing in India considering the growing size of the economy... Therefore, coal will also definitely be required and we are conscious of that and are working towards that". The efforts will be to continuously augment coal output and align it with the demand, she said. Brar said the pre-2014 policy on mine allocation has been disbanded and now the government gives blo

Our output of 189 MTs in the first quarter of the current financial year was around 14 MTs more compared to last year's same quarter, giving us the leverage to step up our supplies, Prasad said

Coal shortfall poses fresh challenges for the economy

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The increased expenses slashed profits of some of the biggest mills in India at a time when commodity prices were rallying to multi-year highs

Chennai-based India Cements has said that it has already imported two shipments of Russian coal due to shortage of domestic supply

India is planning to import nearly 76 million tonnes (MT) of coal this fiscal year to reach the fossil fuel shortfall in power plants

Total rainfall deficit drops from over 40% on June 10 to just 2% on June 21

The imported gas-produced electricity could cost Rs 22-23 per unit, pegged at about four-five times current tariffs

The imported coal would be supplied to state government-owned gencos and independent power producers (IPPs), 1.2 mt each

Says stock available with power plants enough for 10 days of operation

Surging supply from renewables will go some way towards mitigating India's coal shortage amid extraordinarily rapid growth in demand

The Railways' decision to stick with steel wagons may have contributed to the shortage of rakes to haul coal to generating plants

The dispatch of the dry fuel also increased 15.87 per cent to 37.18 MT in the first half of the current month over the corresponding period of the last fiscal

Indians are cranking up air conditioning as they still work from home, while lights come back on in offices and factories with an end to Covid curbs, upending power demand patterns amid a heatwave

India is facing its worst power crisis in over six years as a heatwave bakes vast swathes of South Asia, causing widespread power outages

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday alleged that the Centre is pressuring states to purchase imported coal, which costs three times more the one produced in the country. He also urged the Centre to remove the requirement of purchasing imported coal, which he said has been increased to 10 per cent of the total purchase. According to a release, Gehlot said the price of imported coal is three times higher than that of provided by Coal India. The chief minister said Rajasthan may have to bear a burden of Rs 1,736 crore if it purchases the imported coal. "The Union ministry of power had issued an advisory in December 2021 to the Rajasthan Vidyut Utpadan Nigam for 4 per cent imported coal blending and in April, it has been made mandatory to buy 10 per cent," a release quoting Gehlot said. "The price of this imported coal is more than three times the price of coal being given by Coal India Limited. Its cost is expected to be about Rs 1,736 crore, which is much higher than th

Prices in the long products segment have declined on an average of 10-15 per cent to Rs 57,000 per tonne in Kolkata market from a high of Rs 65,000 a tonne

Jalandhar has been in the midst of much disruption. This ground report, concluding the power crisis series, looks at MSMEs and their issues