Rakes supplied by Indian railways for domestic coal movement have tumbled to its lowest monthly total for the year during Aug’19.
Data compiled by CoalMint research shows that domestic coal rakes delivered in Aug’19 were marked 15% lower on the month at 9,284 compared with 10,904 in Jul’19. Over the course of the first 8 months of CY19 (Jan-Aug’19), the railways on an average has loaded 390.62 rakes/day, summing to 94,921 in total during the period.
Of late, the power sector has witnessed a weaker seasonal demand for coal amid monsoons. Besides, the urgency for coal supplies was also lowered by a better coal stock position in hand compared with the previous year.
As a matter of fact, the month of August marks a pick-up in demand for thermal power generation, with resumption of industrial activities post monsoon. However, overturning the trend seen in the past years, thermal power output had decreased on the month, while recording hefty shortfall from the assigned target during Aug’19.
A broad classification based on the end-user sector indicates that rakes envisaged for power sector had averaged 219.16/day in Aug’19, down 16% M-o-M from 259.68/day in Jul’19. Rakes loaded for non-power sector averaged 80.32/day in Aug’19 compared with 92.03 rakes/day noted in Jul’19.
Major Coal Receivers:
India’s largest power producer NTPC had taken the highest number of coal rakes for its plants’ operation in Aug’19. However, the count of rakes had fallen 18% on the month to 1,217 during the month.
Maharashtra State Power Generation Company was the second-largest rake procurer in Aug’19, followed by SAIL, DVC and Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam.
Rakes Envisaged for State Electricity Boards Down 17%
Total number of rakes loaded to the state electricity boards decreased 17% M-o-M to 2,883 in Aug’19 against 3,487 in Jul’19.
Among the various state utilities drawing coal via railways, only UP and Punjab had seen an uptick in rake procurement during the month.
Rakes Taken by State Utilities
| Consignee | Aug’19 | Jul’19 | % Change |
| Maharashtra State Power Generation | 502 | 588 | -15% |
| Andhra Pradesh Generation Corporation | 369 | 510 | -28% |
| Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam | 366 | 393 | -7% |
| Madhya Pradesh Power Generating Corporation | 304 | 338 | -10% |
| UP State Electricity Board | 261 | 202 | 29% |
| West Bengal Power Development | 209 | 234 | -11% |
| Tamilnadu Generation And Distribution | 192 | 259 | -26% |
| Telangana Power Generation Corporation | 158 | 238 | -34% |
| Karnataka Power Corporation | 155 | 243 | -36% |
| Haryana Power Generation Corporation | 110 | 146 | -25% |
| Gujarat State Electricity Corporation | 100 | 162 | -38% |
| Chhattisgarh State Power Generation | 71 | 83 | -14% |
| Punjab State Power Corporation | 53 | 39 | 36% |
| Others | 33 | 52 | -37% |
| Total | 2,883 | 3,487 | -17% |
Source: CoalMint Research
Major Suppliers:
East Central railways (ECR) comprising of Dhanbad division emerged as the highest rake supplier during Aug’19, following the hefty decline in rakes deliveries noted from South East Central Railways (SECR).
Coal mining area covered under SECR chiefly belongs to the South Eastern Coalfields (SECL), which of late had seen subdued coal dispatch. Ultimately, rakes transported by SECR dropped 19% on the month to 1937 in Aug’19, which was the lowest total in CY19.
Topping the list, rakes supplied by ECR stood 2,430 in Aug’19.
Leave a Reply