Fresh coal crisis looms in India as top miner adds new curbs

Coal India is restricting deliveries to industrial consumers to prioritise power plants, with fuel stockpiles already below target levels and the country heading into a traditional summer demand peak

A coal supply crisis is brewing in India for a second year.

Coal India Ltd. is restricting deliveries to industrial consumers to prioritize power plants, with fuel stockpiles already below target levels and the country heading into a traditional summer demand peak.  

The state-owned miner limited daily supplies to non-power sector users to 275,000 tons, according to an internal letter seen by Bloomberg. That’s about 17% lower than recent average daily volumes. 

Limited availability of railway carriages means the producer has also asked production hubs to use trucks, rather than trains, to transport the majority of fuel to industrial customers,