Government Says Coal Consumption Is Not Regulated

Government informed Parliament on Wednesday that it has not regulated consumption of coal, rather more dry fuel had been supplied in the current financial year till November, compared to the same period of corresponding fiscal.

Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi in a written response to a question in Lok Sabha, said that Coal India Limited (CIL) had provided more coal during the current fiscal (up to November 2021) in comparison to the quantity provided during the same period of last year.

During April-November 2021, CIL had dispatched coal to the tune of 421.11 million tonnes in comparison to the corresponding period of last year's figures of 357.13 million tonnes, thus recording a growth of about 18 per cent.

Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) had dispatched 42.47 million tonnes of coal in April-November 2021, compared to 26.52 million tonnes of dry fuel, which it had sent during April-November 2020, achieving 60 per cent growth, Mr Joshi told the lower house.

The coal minister's comment on dry fuel consumption can be seen in the light of the fact that in October this year, as many as six states had said that they face energy crisis as power plants were short of dry fuel.

The coal ministry had expedited supplies to the affected states, which had even hinted at the possibility of facing outages.