Page 3 - Coal Policy

Will not face shortage of coal this year, even during Monsoon: Pralhad

India will not face any shortage of coal this year even during the monsoon, Coal and Mines Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Tuesday. No matter what is the demand this year, the government is prepared to meet the same, the minister said at a conference on underground coal mining here. "I assure the country on behalf of Coal India and the coal ministry that there will not be any shortage of coal even in the monsoon this time," he said. The preparation is good and it is "our responsibility" to meet the entire demand this year, Joshi said. Speaking to PTI on the sidelines of the event, the minister said while 35 million tonne (MT) coal is at thermal power plants, 65 MT is lying at pit heads of Coal India and private miners and another 10-12 MT is in various stages of transportation. On the movement of coal through rakes, Joshi said the ministry is working in close coordination with Railways for movement of the dry fuel from pit heads to locations. Earlier, the minister also unveiled Co

Expensive coal imports, logistics may result in higher electricity bills

An unnamed senior executive said that expensive imports combined with increased transportation costs may lead to an increase of 40 paise per kilowatt hour (kWh)

Despite no-carbon ambitions, G7 fails to set date for ending coal power use

More aggressive moves to reduce carbon emissions remain a highlighted difficulty for G7 as the world's major industrialised economies continue to clash on coal

CIL coking coal production sees quantum leap of 8MT, rises by 17% in FY23

The production of coking coal by Coal India Ltd (CIL) rose by 17.2 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to 54.6 million tonnes (MT) in 2022-23. The state-owned miner had produced 46.6 MT coking coal during the preceding 2021-22 fiscal, it said in a statement. "The quantum leap was a whopping 8 MT. This assumes significance at a time when the Ministry of Coal has asked CIL to elevate the output of this category of coal to 105 MT by 2030 in a bid to reduce its imports and forex outgo," it said Subsidiary companies Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) and Central Coal Fields (CCL) together accounted for almost the entire output of 54.3 MT in 2022-23. While BCCL produced nearly 33.7 MT during FY23, CCL contributed 20.6 MT. Coking coal is an important feedstock in steel making. In India, its mineable reserves are scarce and also its quality inadequacy for direct use in steel making necessitates washing. During FY23 coking coal imports were to the tune of 56 MT, down by 1.1 MT compared to 57.1 MT in

Govt launches 7th round of coal mine auctions; 106 mines for sale

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday launched the seventh round of auctions for commercial mining of coal blocks, putting 106 mines under the hammer. Of the total mines offered under the seventh round, 61 blocks are partially explored and 45 mines are fully explored. As many as 95 non-coking coal mines, 10 lignite mines and one coking coal mine are being offered in the latest round of auction. In his address, Singh said coal is considered black gold which plays an important role in strengthening the economy of the country. "Our energy consumption has grown in the last few years and will continue to grow. And to meet this need we will have to start taking efforts from today," he said. The ongoing auctions of coal blocks are a step towards energy security, Singh said. Details of the mines, auction terms, timelines etc. can be accessed on the MSTC auction platform. The auction shall be held online through a transparent two-stage process, on the basis of percentage revenue sha

Tata Power seeks regulator nod to raise tariffs and offset fuel cost surge

A spike in coal prices has increased cost of generation

What is coal gasification and why is India investing in it heavily?

On Novemebr 3, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched the biggest ever coal mine auction of 141 mines in India

CoalMin launches largest-ever commercial coal auction of 141 mines

The coal ministry has auctioned close to 64 coal mines to date under commercial auction

Centre to soon waive compensation cess on coal gasification: Report

After the removal of cess, the cost of producing methanol is expected to come down by Rs 800-900 per million tonnes

Domestic steel prices inching up on rising cost, pick-up in demand

Currency depreciation of over 6% may have supported uptrend; industry players confident that prices have bottomed out

Govt offers 42 hydrocarbon blocks for exploration and development

As many as 26 mainly offshore oil and gas blocks and 16 coal bed methane blocks have been notified for international bidding as India aims to quickly increase the area under exploration

Govt eases coal import targets as inventories improve in some states

Power ministry has asked PSU utilities and private power producers to assess the amount of coal needed to be imported for blending, according to a notice issued

Power ministry earmarks 81 thermal units to move coal to renewable by 2026

The list includes generation units of state-owned NTPC, and privately owned units of Tata Power, Adani Power, CESC, Hindustan Power

Power Ministry asks CEA to compute coal consumption for power generation

The Power Ministry directed the CEA to compute the quantity of the coal consumed, that was procured under SHAKTI B policy mandating blending of 10 per cent by weight for the power generation

India warns of fuel-supply cuts to utilities if coal imports delayed

Most state-run utilities are debt-laden and will have to import more coal to fire their power plants due to reduced local supply

Country has constraints in availability of domestic coal, says govt

The country is facing constraints in the domestic coal availability and the rest of the dry fuel demand needs to be met with imports, according to the coal ministry. The ministry has also emphasised that coal block holders -- both captive and commercial -- have a major role to play in mitigating the coal shortfall situation. Domestic coal production is about 800 million tonnes, according to the coal additional secretary, who is also the chairperson of an inter-ministerial panel on coal linkages for the power sector. The inter-ministerial panel met ?recently to consider the requests for coal linkages to central/state sector power plants and to review the status of existing coal linkages. The additional coal secretary stated that "there are constraints in domestic coal availability and the domestic coal production is roughly about 800 MT". "Therefore, the rest of the coal demand of the country has to be met through imports from other countries", according to the minutes of the meetin

Decoding the link between coal policy changes and the power crunch in India

Coal supply reforms are medium term, but they have created an immediate surge in demand. The result is a power crisis

India allows state utilities to sell 25% allocated coal to other producers

India is likely to face more power cuts this year as utilities' coal inventories are at the lowest pre-summer levels in at least nine years

Indonesia's coal export ban nearly wipes out January trade surplus

Authorities on January 1 announced an unexpected suspension of all coal exports due to critically low inventory of the fuel at domestic power plants

Govt launches portal to share key performance indicators of coal sector

The portal was launched by Coal Secretary Anil Kumar Jain