CIL steps up coal supplies to power plants amid availability concerns

Power-sector coal despatches rose 10.6 per cent year-on-year in September, while daily supplies remained robust in early October as CIL drew down pithead inventories

Coal India Ltd (CIL) has stepped up coal supplies to power plants in the first three days of October amid recent concerns over coal availability in the power sector, continuing the momentum seen in September.

 

“Looking at the data since 28th September, the intensity of the daily supply effort is visible where the daily power-sector despatch remained robust, reaching 1.74 Million Tonne (MT), 1.79 MT and 1.71 MT on 28-30 September, and sustaining the momentum in October at 1.75 MT, 1.87 MT and 1.81 MT on 1-3 October, respectively,” the coal ministry said in a statement.

 

The company recorded growth of 10.6 per cent year-on-year in coal supplies to the power sector during September. State-run CIL’s power-sector coal despatch rose to 48.9 million tonnes (MT) in September 2026 from 44.2 MT a year earlier, recording an increase of 4.7 MT. Overall coal supplies by the company rose 12.5 per cent to 61.2 MT during the month, the statement said.

  

The latest data comes as coal supply to the power sector assumes significance following concerns over availability at power plants. CIL accounts for nearly four-fifths of its coal supplies to the power sector.

 

For the first six months of financial year 2026-27, CIL supplied 302.8 MT of coal to the power sector, compared with 285.4 MT in the corresponding period of the previous year, marking an increase of 17.4 MT, or 6.1 per cent. Power-sector supplies in the second quarter rose 11 per cent to 148.2 MT from 133.5 MT a year earlier.

 

The increase in supplies has been supported partly by drawing down accumulated pithead inventories. CIL liquidated 63 MT of pithead coal stocks during the first half of FY27, the ministry said, indicating that existing inventories were also used to support consumer supplies.

 

CIL’s overall coal offtake in the first half of FY27 stood at 384.2 MT, up 7.6 per cent from 357 MT in the year-ago period. Of the total offtake, nearly 79 per cent was supplied to the power sector.

 

The improvement in coal supplies has coincided with higher domestic coal-based power generation. Such generation rose to 640.05 billion units (BU) in the first half of FY27 from 582.5 BU in the corresponding period last year, an increase of about 9.9 per cent.

 

The coal ministry said the improvement in supplies was supported by enhanced evacuation, better synchronisation between production and despatch and utilisation of pithead stocks.

 

CIL’s distribution to the power sector continues to be primarily through fuel supply agreements and linkage mechanisms, while short-term requirements can also be met through other market-based channels.

 

The company is also expanding mechanised evacuation infrastructure. CIL currently has 46 coal handling plants-cum-silos with a combined mechanised, closed-loop evacuation capacity of 432 MT. It is considering additional such facilities at upcoming greenfield mines.