Page 2 - Coal Demand

Captive, commercial coal blocks output surged 27% to 147 MT in FY24: Joshi

Captive and commercial coal blocks produced 147 million tonne coal in financial year 2023-24, registering a year-on-year growth of 27 per cent, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Wednesday. The mines had produced 116 MT coal during 2022-23. Out of 147.2 MT, power sector captive mines produced around 121.3 MT, non-power sector mines produced 8.4 MT and the production from commercial mines was 17.5 MT, Joshi said in a post on X. The production from power sector captive mines in FY24 rose 19 per cent as compared to the previous year. In non-power captive mines, the production growth was 63 per cent year-on-year. Output from commercial coal mines registered the highest year-on-year growth of 93 per cent in FY24. Dispatch from the mines during FY24 was 143 MT as against 110 MT in FY23. A total of 9 new coal mines commenced production during FY24 which includes 4 captive mines and 5 commercial mines. "The Ministry extends its appreciation to all stakeholders for their dedication and

Coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, is finally preparing for long goodbye

Coal's days are numbered, of course. Advances in solar and wind have made those technologies far cheaper than coal power in most parts of the world, and similar gains for batteries

Govt banks on coal to power nation in summer; peak demand may cross 265 Gw

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

National coal index falls 5% in Dec, shows sufficient availability in mkt

Indicating sufficient coal availability in the market, the National Coal Index (NCI) declined 4.75 per cent in December. The NCI was at 155.44 points in December 2022, the coal ministry said in a statement on Thursday. This decline shows a strong supply of coal in the market, with sufficient availability to meet the rising demand. NCI is a price index that combines coal prices from all sales channels, including auction and import prices. It considers prices of coking and non-coking coal of various grades transacted in the regulated (power and fertiliser) and non-regulated sectors. "The National Coal Index (Provisional) has shown a significant decline of 4.75 per cent in December 2023 at 155.44 points compared to December 2022, where it was at 163.19 points," the coal ministry said in a statement. Established with the base year as 2017-18, the price index serves as a reliable indicator of market dynamics, providing valuable insights into price fluctuations. "The downward traject

Govt plans to expand coal power fleet to meet soaring demand: Report

Coal is likely to account for the lion's share of this expansion, as gas-fired electricity generation is currently unviable due to the high costs of the fuel

Average power purchase cost increases by 71 paise per unit during FY22-23

Average power purchase cost increased by 71 paise per unit during FY22-23 due to a rise in various overheads like transmission and distribution rates, Parliament was informed on Thursday. On the rise in power cost due to increased use of imported coal, Union Power Minister RK Singh, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha, said, "Average power purchase cost increased by 71 paise only between FY22 and FY23. This is because of increase in various costs including an increase in transmission and distribution costs". The minister explained that with the rise in electricity demand from July 2021 onwards, the consumption of coal in thermal power plants increased. The supply of domestic coal on a daily basis was less than consumption, which resulted in the depletion of coal stock and stocks at plants came down from 28.7 million tonnes (MT) as of June 30, 2021, to about 8.1 million tonnes (MT) as of September 30, 2021, he added. Therefore, in December 2021, the Ministry of Power advised state

Booming Indian coal demand driving up the shares of state-run giants

NTPC, which produces mostly coal-fired power, has surged 78%, far ahead of a gain of 17% in the broader Nifty Index, while shares of Coal India are up 55% for their best year in 2023

State-owned Coal India's capex rises 7.6% to Rs 10,492 cr in Apr-Nov period

State-owned CIL on Tuesday said that its capital expenditure increased by 7.6 per cent to Rs 10,492 crore in the first eight months of the ongoing financial year. The public sector enterprise's captital expenditure was Rs 9,751 crore in the year-ago period, Coal India Ltd (CIL) said in a BSE filing. "CIL's capital expenditure increased by Rs 741 crore in eight months ending November FY 2024 to Rs 10,492 crore," the company said in a statement. Coal India accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output. "We are striving to achieve around 80 per cent of the current financial year's total targeted capex of Rs 16,500 crore by the third quarter ending December," a senior executive of the company said. CIL's intensified focus on strengthening coal evacuation infrastructure in its mining areas saw the capex going up to Rs 3,247 crore, representing 31 per cent of the entire capex, till November in the current fiscal. "Setting up railway sidings and corridors at Rs 1,842 crore; ...

Transition away from coal not happening in foreseeable future: Govt

The transition away from coal is not happening in India in the foreseeable future, Parliament was informed on Monday. Although India is pushing for renewable, non-fossil-based energy, but the share of coal in the energy basket is going to remain significant in the years ahead to ensure affordable energy availability, coal and mines minister Pralhad Joshi said. "In India, the transition away from coal or Just Transition is not happening in the foreseeable future," the minister said. Replying to a query in the Rajya Sabha, the minister said although, in due course, some mines may close down due to exhaustion of reserves, at the same time, many new coal blocks are being operationalised to meet the growing energy demand. "These mines are not only ensuring affordability and energy security of the nation but also providing new additional opportunities for new employment and redeployment of workers in new mines from the to-be-closed mines to ensure better livelihood and also generate ...

Coal dispatch may exceed one billion tonnes this fiscal: Coal ministry

The coal ministry on Thursday said the dispatch of coal is likely to exceed one billion tonnes in the current financial year. The coal ministry has set a target to produce and dispatch 1,012 million tonnes (MT) of coal to consumers during the ongoing fiscal. "During the second half of the year, the rate of production and dispatch is normally higher than the first half of the year. It is, therefore, expected that this year's dispatch of coal would exceed the one billion tonne mark," the coal ministry said in a statement. During the last financial year, coal dispatch of 500 MT happened as on November 9. During the current year, the 500 MT dispatch mark has been achieved 23 days in advance. "Achieving record high performance, the Ministry has been able to dispatch 500 MT coal as on October 17 2023. Dispatch of 500 MT of coal in 200 days, despite the monsoon season, in the first half of the year, is an outstanding achievement," it said. Out of 500 MT of coal dispatch, 416.57 MT has be

Peak power demand hits historic high of 220 Gw, may cross that level soon

Figure is in sync with power ministry's estimate that demand would top 220 Gw in Apr-June quarter

Untimely rains bring relief to thermal units as power, coal demand tapers

Downpour allows power plants to stock coal for upcoming summer months

Price cap to be raised to counter India's robust power demand

Unusually high temperatures for this time of year are fueling predictions that electricity demand might rise to a record this summer

Coal demand estimated to reach 1,087 million tonnes in current fiscal year

Demand for coal is estimated to reach 1,087 million tonne in the ongoing financial year, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. As against the increased coal demand, domestic production of the fossil fuel has also increased. "For the current year 2022-23, coal demand has been assessed by the Ministry (coal) to reach 1,087 MT," Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. The actual demand for coal increased to 1,027.92 million tonne (MT) in FY22 from 906.13 MT in FY21. In FY22, the domestic coal production increased 8.67 per cent to 778.19 MT from 716.08 MT in FY21, the minister said. Several steps have been taken by the government to increase the production of coal in the country. These include identification and development of new coal blocks, including through captive and commercial route and single window clearance portal for the coal sector to speed up the operationalisation of coal mines. Being an affordable source of energy with substantial reserve

2023 could be another strong yr for coal as demand may reach record levels

Coal India, companies with captive coal mines in steel, power and other sectors will be at an advantage

Trends show coal is here to stay despite India's renewable energy goals

Coal is dirty -- it makes up for 40 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, its mining wreaks havoc on the environment and burning it produces pollutants like mercury which are linked to acid rain and particulate matter that causes respiratory illnesses. But the war in Ukraine has caused a mini-energy crisis globally, pushing its use to record levels this year. And India, the world's third largest energy consumer, was at the forefront of the global rise in coal usage as it fell back on the easiest available fossil fuel in the face of a surge in oil and gas prices that threatened to derail the economic recovery from the pandemic. The trends of coal consumption and production this year indicate that the dirty fuel is here to stay despite the nation's ambitious target of meeting 50 per cent of energy requirements from renewable energy and non-fossil fuel capacity of 500 GW by 2030. India's coal consumption has doubled since 2007 at an annual growth rate of 6 per cent an

Coal India banks on South Eastern Coalfields for output in Chhattisgarh

CIL has set a target of 700 million tonnes (MT) for FY23

Focus is to capture, not halt, carbon emissions: Coal min Pralhad Joshi

'Both domestic exploration and buying stake in overseas mineral mines is on the agenda'

Rich nations stick to coal phase-out as China builds new plants

Countries within OECD policy forum and European Union on track to close more than 75% of their coal power capacity from 2010 to 2030

'Greening' of coal: A peek into India's evolving stance towards emission

The war in Ukraine has forced India to review its plans to scale back the fuel in the overall energy mix