Supply of coal to the power sector by Coal India Ltd. declined 2.6 percent to 80.9 million tonnes in the first two months of the ongoing fiscal, government data showed.
This comes amid coal imports rising 12.9 percent to 235.2 million tonnes in FY19 over 208.2 MT imported in FY18.
The world's largest coal miner had supplied 83.1 MT of the dry fuel in April-May period of FY18, according to government data.
In May, coal dispatch by the state-run company dropped 4.9 percent to 40.6 million tonnes from 42.7 MT in May 2017-18.
Coal supply by Singareni Collieries Company Ltd.— jointly owned by the Centre and Telangana—also dropped by 2 percent to 9.4 MT in April-May 2018-19, from 9.6 MT supplied in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
The Centre had earlier said that no power plant was facing fuel shortages, adding none of the thermal power plants have reported any loss of generation due to supply constraints.
Coal India, which accounts for more than 80 percent of domestic coal output, is targeting more than 8 percent growth in production at 660 million tonnes in 2019-20 compared to 607 million tonnes in the last fiscal.
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