State owned CIL has recorded a drastic fall in its pit head coal stock coal during the first half of FY20.
The company has liquidated 35 MnT coal from its existing stock in the first 6-months of FY20 (Apr-Sep’19). The information was provided by Coal Minister Mr Pralhad Joshi while replying to a question in the parliament.
Notably, CIL’s pit-head coal stock in the beginning of the FY20 assessed at 54.15 MnT as on 1 Apr’19, has reduced nearly 65% to 19.15 MnT as witnessed on 30 Sep’19.
A subdued coal production meant that the company had failed to add significant coal volume to its stockpile. Instead, the residual quantity to cater the demand was procured from the existing coal reserves available at the mines.
Apparently, CIL’s coal production in the first half of FY20 has fallen 6% Y-o-Y to 241.01 MnT as against 256.47 MnT noted in the year-ago period.
Nevertheless, the immediate effect of the steep fall in coal stock was not exacerbated by a comparatively better coal reserves seen at the thermal power plants. As on 24 Nov’19, coal stock at the power plants (having coal linkages) was recorded at 23.8 MnT, whereas stock level was noted 12.937 MnT at the end of November last year.
Commenting on CIL’s production loss, Mr Joshi said the production had already started to pick up and asserted that the company was in line to achieve the 660 MnT production target for the year.
CIL’s coal production in Oct’19 had increased 28% on the month to 39.35 MnT, and is expected to further rise during winter as the weather turns fair at almost all mines.
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