Coal Supply

Strains in Australian metallurgical (met) coal supply has heightened energy security risks for India, which depends on imports for 90 pc of its needs, according to a new report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). The Indian government and steelmakers have begun reducing reliance on Australian met coal but India needs to go further to prevent India's steel sector from being weighed down by long-term energy security challenges, it noted. India aims to reach a crude steel production capacity of 300 million tonnes per annum by 2030. Much of this growth is driven by the blast furnace (BF) technology that uses met coal. As a result, the Indian steel sector depends heavily on imported met coal since domestic met coal does not meet quality requirements due to its high ash and sulphur content. India currently imports around 90 pc of its met coal, primarily from Australia. However, concerns are mounting over the reliability of the future supply from Austral

Coal India Ltd (CIL) has set an ambitious supply target of 900.24 million tonnes (MT) for 2025-26, representing over 18 per cent growth from the previous year's achievement, as part of a strategy to meet rising power demand and reduce imports. According to the company's outlook by its management in its latest annual report, around 74 per cent of the total coal dispatch is expected to be consumed by the power sector alone, underscoring CIL's critical role in ensuring uninterrupted electricity supply across the country. The projected demand from the power sector for FY26 stands at 668.1 MT, and the company aims to cater to the entire requirement of power and non-regulated consumers while substituting imported coal wherever possible, the miner informed. CIL's growth roadmap aligns with the government's objective of providing 24x7 power to every household, with plans to scale up production to 1 billion tonnes by 2028-29, the company said. To sustain growth while reducing environmental

To improve the coal supply chain, the remaining 55 of 92 FMC projects will be operationalised by FY29

The Union government had earlier projected coal production to reach 1 bt by FY24, but it was later pushed to FY25

Sector experts point that demand would be met on the back of thermal power yet again

State-owned West Bengal Power Development Corporation (WBPDCL) has achieved self-sufficiency in coal supply for its thermal plants from its captive sources in the current fiscal, eliminating its dependence on Coal India Ltd, a top official said on Friday. WBPDCL aims to produce around 20 million tonnes of coal in the current fiscal, up from 18.41 million tonnes in FY24. "We have zero dependence on Coal India for coal supply from this fiscal. Last year, we procured 3.85 million tonnes of dry fuel from them," WBPDCL Director (Mining) Chanchal Goswami told PTI. As of August 2024, dispatches from our captive mines have reached 9.1 million tonnes, he said on the sidelines of Assocham's "2nd Minerals and Mining Conclave 2024". Goswami, also a former CIL professional, said that three-fourth of WBPDCL's coal production comes from Pachwara North in Jharkhand. The block is expected to produce 15 million tonnes in FY'25 out of the total 20-21 million tonnes. Other blocks include Barjora, .

The Centre on Thursday said that it has asked the coal block allottees to take necessary steps to put to production mines that were auctioned recently. The coal ministry on Wednesday reviewed the status of coal mines that were auctioned and are in different stages of process completion. "The 71 coal blocks are in various stages of obtaining regulatory clearances. These blocks are distributed across nine states Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and West Bengal," the Coal Ministry said in a statement. The meeting was chaired by Coal Additional Secretary Rupinder Brar. The comprehensive review focused on highlighting the government's commitment to ramp up domestic coal production. "This strategic review underscores the Ministry's proactive approach to addressing hurdles in coal blocks operationalisation in order to meet India's growing energy needs," the statement said. By focusing on these mines, the government aims to maximise

Coal supply to the power sector in August dropped 5.4 per cent to 58.07 million tonnes (MT) as compared to the year-ago period, according to an official statement on Tuesday. The supply of coal to the power sector was 61.43 MT in August of the previous fiscal year. "In August 2024, the supply to the power sector was 58.07 MT, slightly lower than the 61.43 MT recorded in August 2023," the coal ministry said in a statement. Coal supply to the power sector remains a key priority, the ministry said. Between April and August this fiscal year, supply to the power sector reached 338.75 MT, registering a growth of 4.13 per cent over the 325.33 MT supplied during the year-ago period. In terms of coal supply across the country during the April to August 2024, it stood at 412.69 MT, with an increase of 5.17 per cent compared to 392.40 MT during the corresponding period of the last financial year. In August, however, coal supply fell slightly to 69.94 MT, compared to 75.19 MT in August of t

Coal stocks at thermal power plants continue to be more than 45 million tonnes (MT), adequate to meet the requirement for 19 days, amid peak power demand due to heat wave conditions. The country's peak power demand touched an all-time high of 250 GW on Thursday. Coal stocks at thermal power plants continue to be more than 45 MT, which is 30 per cent higher compared to last year, sources said. In the current month average daily depletion at thermal power plants has been only 10,000 tonnes per day. This has been made possible by ensuring smooth and adequate logistic arrangements for the supply of coal, sources explained. The mechanism of sub-Group comprising representatives from ministries of Power, Coal, Railways and power generating companies is playing an effective role in maintaining an efficient supply chain. The stock at the mine pit-head is over 100 MT amounting to sufficient coal to power the sector. The Ministry of Railways has ensured 9 per cent average growth on daily ...

The government is expecting a major share of the load to fall on coal-based power to meet demand and is boosting coal supply at all ends

The chief minister said the offline process led to delays in transportation and promoted corrupt practices

UK-based conglomerate SRAM & MRAM Group has formed a joint venture with Indonesian company Energi Alam BORNEO to offer coal supply solutions, according to a statement. The joint venture aims to optimize the procurement and distribution of Indonesian coal in the worldwide energy market, SRAM & MRAM Group said on Saturday. The group said that the joint venture is expected to supply around 300,000 tonnes of Indonesian coal worth USD 30 million (around Rs 250 crore) every month to the Indian market. Energi Alam BORNEO is a major coal trading company in Indonesia. The company sources coal from East Kalimantan, known for the largest coal content in Indonesia and caters to various industries such as power plants, cement, chemical, and industrial applications. SRAM & MRAM Group is a global conglomerate with diverse interests spanning various industries such as oil, technology, agriculture, airport solutions and cybersecurity. Hemalata Arumugam, Group CEO of SRAM & MRAM Group ..

State-owned CIL's coal supply to electricity generating plants rose by 11 per cent to 50.8 MT in October amid higher power demand in the festive month. The fuel supply by Coal India Ltd (CIL) to the power sector was 45.8 MT in October last fiscal. The higher supply of five million tonnes (MT) was despite rain lashed across the mines of CIL's subsidiaries based in the eastern part of the country -- Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL), Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL), Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL) and partly Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL) -- during the first week of October, the maharatna firm said in a statement. In the first seven months of the current financial year, coal supply by CIL to the power sector increased by 15 MT to 346 MT from 331 MT a year ago, registering a growth of 4.5 per cent. "The quantum supplies to the power sector were 4.7 MT more than the progressive commitment of 341.3 MT till October," the statement said. The company is confident of breaching the annual supply targe

Supply of coal to the power sector by state-owned Coal India increased 3.4 per cent to 294.8 million tonnes in the first six months of the current fiscal even as the demand for electricity touched record highs in the past two months, the maharatna firm said on Monday. The total amount of coal supplied was 1.8 MT more than the 293 MT demand projected for this period, Coal India Ltd (CIL) said in a statement. "Compared to the high base of same period last fiscal, the volume increase was 9.7 MT, or 3.4 per cent. This could have been higher if the logistics were eased out and intake not regulated by few consumers," CIL said in a statement. "We were given a supply target of 610 MT to the power sector for FY24. This is about 4 per cent higher than the record 586.6 MT supplied in FY23. We met the prorated demand of coal-fired plants till September-end and expect to meet the annual demand as well," a senior CIL official said. Coal is the largest source of electricity in the country and CIL

The Ministries of Coal, Railways, and Power are working closely together to ensure the continued availability of coal for all thermal power plant

Coal India Ltd (CIL) will work on priority to meet the 780 MT production target for FY24, its new Chairman PM Prasad said on Saturday. Prasad took charge as the Chairman of the mining giant on July 1. He succeeds Pramod Agrawal, who superannuated on June 30, 2023. "Underlining his priority, the chairman said CIL would achieve the 780 million tonne (MT) output target of FY2024 with all efforts and means available at its disposal," a Coal India statement said. In FY 2022-23, CIL produced 703 MT of coal. Ensuring uninterrupted coal flow to the power sector will be another priority area, he said. In his last stint, Prasad was the chairman of CIL's Jharkhand-based arm Central Coalfields Limited (CCL). Coal India, under the Ministry of Coal, has eight subsidiaries in total. He began his CIL career in 1984 as a management trainee at Western Coalfields Limited and served in different capacities across different CIL subsidiaries. He also had a three-year stint in NTPC as Executive Direct

The nominated authority, Ministry of Coal has issued vesting orders for 22 coal mines to successful bidders of coal blocks, said the ministry

Domestic coal production was 7.10 per cent higher year-on-year at 76.26 million tonne (MT) in May. India had produced 71.21 MT coal during the same month in 2022, the coal ministry said in a statement. "Ministry of Coal has achieved a remarkable feat with a substantial surge in overall coal production during May 23, reaching 76.26 MT surpassing May 22 of 71.21 MT, representing an increase of 7.10 per cent," it said. The cumulative coal production in April-May FY24 jumped to 149.41 MT from 138.41 MT in the year-ago period. Last month, Coal India Ltd (CIL) alone produced 59.94 MT coal, up 9.54 per cent over 54.72 MT in May 2022. With an increased first-mile connectivity infrastructure, coal dispatch last month grew 5.70 per cent to 82.22 MT from 77.79 MT in May 2022. First-mile connectivity refers to the transportation of coal from pitheads to dispatch points. The cumulative coal dispatch in April-May FY24 stood at 162.44 MT as against 149.76 MT in the year-ago period. This upturn

However, the use of low-sulphur coal in thermal power plants is allowed

A total of 290 mines are operational in Coal India Ltd (CIL) out of which 97 mines produce more than one MT per year