Even as power demand has touched a historic high of 250 gigawatts (Gw) amid sweltering heat this June, India’s power stations are stocked with bumper supply of coal — 25 per cent higher than last year and a massive 71 per cent more than in 2022, when the sector faced a domestic coal shortage. The national average coal stock with thermal power units stands at a comfortable 16 days at present.
While the domestic production of coal during these summer months has grown 8-10 per cent over last year, easing of transportation bottlenecks has been the real catalyst of change. Imported coal currently accounts for 9-10 per cent of the total national coal stock.
According to senior coal ministry officials, the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC), finally operationalised in October 2023, is among the major drivers of improved coal supply. “The rake movement on the EDFC route has become three times faster. The congestion that originated from Mughalsarai-Sonnagar and continued till Delhi-Punjab has eased significantly because of EDFC,” said a senior official.
The average coal stock position at the 20 thermal power plants that fall in or around the EDFC route is 25 days. Some of them have as high as 36 days of stock, according to railways data.
The 1,300-km EDFC, which was operational in parts, has been seamlessly connected between Ludhiana in Punjab and Sonnagar in Bihar. While the corridor does not connect directly to the coal-rich areas, it allows the Indian Railways to ensure smooth movement on its mixed-use tracks for passenger and other freight services by shifting the coal traffic on EDFC lines.
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According to Indian Railways officials, the completion of the EDFC has helped the Railways deliver more coal to power houses in Uttar Pradesh, which typically are among the highest consumers in the country.
The state is currently leading with a demand of 28 Gw, more than even the more industrial states.
In May, coal volumes on Indian Railways rose 9 per cent to 72 million tonnes. The Dhanbad division of the Indian Railways is among those primarily responsible for evacuating coal to power houses falling on the EDFC. Coal loading from the Dhanbad division in 2023-24 was 188 million tonnes. According to an executive, loading increased by 10 per cent in May, when nationwide heat waves caused a surge in demand. So far in 2023-24, the division has loaded 44 million tonnes, which is nearly 6 per cent higher than the previous year.
“On average, DFCC is running 12 long-haul rakes every day. The number goes up to 15+ during peak demand time,” the executive said, adding that 20 long-haul rakes were moved through EDFC on June 24. A long-haul rake can carry double the volumes of a regular rake.
In the coal-bearing states of Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, the Railways and Coal India Ltd (CIL) have increased rail lines to decongest the network and provide seamless transport of coal from the eastern region to other parts of the country. “There were only two railway lines between Bilaspur and Jharsuguda. Now there are four. In Bilaspur, two lines used to cross each other – Howrah-Mumbai and Bilaspur-Katni. So, there we have constructed a ‘rail over rail’ (RoR) system. This has reduced delays on railway crossing,” said an official.
Another decongestion in the coal supply chain is the operationalisation of close to 35 first-mile connectivity (FMC) projects which have mechanised coal loading from the mine to railway siding. Officials said this had brought down the coal loading time to 45 minutes from 3-4 hours earlier.
According to the central government, coastal shipping of coal has also increased. Overall thermal coal volumes (both coastal and imported) for non-major ports have risen 20 per cent in 2024-25 to 9.4 million tonnes, while those for central government-owned ports have fallen 4 per cent to 20 million tonnes.
