Coal supplied by Coal India Ltd (CIL) to the power plants has continued the uptrend on the monthly basis, as it grew from 32.76 mn t in Jul ’20 to 33.86 mn t in Aug ’20.
It was also the first time dispatch increased on the y-o-y basis in FY ’21 by recording a rise of 1.2 % from 33.47 mn t in Aug ’19.
Lower electricity demand from end-user industries has resulted in sluggish coal intake from the power sector, but has seen an improvement lately with steady decline in coal inventories. Data provided by CEA shows that coal stock at plants has come down to a 7-month low of 42.49 mn t at the end of Aug ’20.
During the first five months of FY ’21 (Apr-Aug ’20), total dispatch to the power sector has fallen 16% y-o-y to 160.33 mn t against 190.33 mn t in Apr-Aug ’19 period.
Coal supply to non-power sector:
In view of the lower demand from power sector, CIL has augmented its coal supply to the non-power sector.
Although, dispatch had come down marginally in Aug ’20 recorded at 10.5 mn t against 10.63 mn t in Jul ’20, the non-power sector has received coal in excess of 10 mn t during each of the past three months, thereby accumulating 31.8 mn t coal which was noted 23% higher than the year-ago period.
Notably, coal allocation in exclusive auction earmarked specially for non-power sector recorded exponential growth to 6.47 mn t in Aug ’20 against 0.11 mn t in Aug ’19, wherein all the subsidiaries of CIL (except NECL) had offered coal under the auction scheme during the month.
CIL is currently exploring avenues to reduce the excessive coal stock available at its pit-head mines, and would desperately seek assistance from the power sector which has yet to attain its full potential.
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