Coal India's Supplies To Power Sector Saw 16% Rise In April

Coal India Limited (CIL) on Monday said supply to the power sector rose 15.6 per cent to 49.7 million tonnes last month in the wake of high demand of the dry fuel from electricity generating plants and stressed that it is planning to augment its dispatches further, especially to power plants in the coming months.

The statement comes at a time when several parts of the country are grappling with power crisis.

"With the intense demand for coal continuing unabated driven by an upward spiral in the electricity generation, CIL pushed up its supplies to power plants of the country to 49.7 million tonnes in April '22. This is 6.7 million tonnes more supply compared to April '21 when the power sector's dispatch was 43 million tonnes," the Maharatna firm said.

With higher output, CIL is aiming to increase its dispatches further, especially to power plants in the coming months.

Coal India, which accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output, is one of the major suppliers of fossil fuel to the power sector.

On an average, the PSU supplied 1.66 MT of coal per day to power utilities in April which increased to 1.73 MT during last week. Average supply per day is at par with what was programmed by CIL for this sector during the first quarter of 2022-23.

The coal production by CIL also rose 27.6 per cent to 53.5 million tonnes last month over 41.9 million tonnes in April 2021.

"To keep up with the increased appetite for coal, CIL accelerated its production to 53.5 million tonnes, logging a strong 27.6 per cent growth," the company said.

All the subsidiaries of CIL have registered year-on-year growth. Mahanadi Coalfields, South Eastern Coalfields, Northern Coalfields, and Western Coalfields significantly ramped up the production in April.

"Coal output of April '22 was the highest ever for the month, so far, eclipsing the previous peak of 45.3 million tonnes achieved in April '19," it said.