India’s domestic and imported coal rake movement in the first half of CY22 stood at 92,703, up by 15% y-o-y. The number of rakes carrying domestic coal stood at 79,348, up 17% y-o-y while those carrying imported coal were at 13,355, up 7% y-o-y in this period, indicating government’s efforts to ensure smooth coal supplies especially to power plants amid coal crisis in the country especially during summers.
Thermal coal stocks have depleted in power plants across the country amid higher power demand due to more-than-usual hot summers this year. Record imported prices, crossing $200/t, due to Russia-Ukraine crisis added to the pressure as 16 GW of imported coal-based capacity was either unoperational or underutilised.
To mitigate this shortage, the government pushed the Indian railways to scale up the supply of coal as rail wagons can transport larger quantities compared to trucks.
Indian Railway dispatched 361.5 mnt of coal in H1CY22 through 92,703 rakes. Notably, each rake carries of 3,900 t (approx) of coal.
*Quantity in mnt
Railway zone-wise coal dispatch in H1CY22
*Quantity in mnt
Total coal dispatch
- South East Central Railway (SECR) and East Central Railway (ECR) recorded the highest total coal (domestic + imported) dispatches with 83 mnt each in H1CY22, marking a y-o-y increase of 12% and 16% respectively. However both the zones dispatched only domestic coal.
- East Coast Railway (ECZ) transported 72 mnt of coal in the period under review, up 15% from same time last year. ECZ is the third largest coal transporter.
*Quantity in mnt
Imported coal
*Quantity in mnt
- ECR is the largest transporter of imported coal in H1CY22 with 29 mnt.
- South East Railway (SER) transported 6% higher imported coal in the first half of this year compared to same period last year.
- Western Railways’ imported coal dispatch surged by 63% y-o-y in H1CY22.
Railway division-wise coal dispatch in H1CY22
*Quantity in mnt
Total coal dispatches
- Dhanbad division transported the highest quantity with 83 mnt, up 16% y-o-y, but no imported coal was transported by this division.
- Bilaspur division dispatched 79 mnt, up 10% y-o-y.
- Total coal dispates in Sambalpur and Raipur division rose eight fold and five fold respectively from corresponding period last year.
*Quantity in mnt
Imported coal
*Quantity in mnt
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- Khurda Road division transported the largest quantity of imported coal at 18 mnt, down by 4% y-o-y basis.
- Waltair division and Kharagpur dispatched 11 mnt and 5.54 mnt of imported coal, recording an increase of 18% and 6% respectively in H1CY22.
- Imported coal dispatches fell in Madurai and Tiruchchirapalli divisions.
Outlook
In its latest move to ensure sufficient coal supplies during monsoons, the government has directed the power generation companies (GENCOS) to buy rakes for captive usage. Owning rakes will save transport costs. The cost of buying rakes can be covered in 9-10 years while the rakes itself run for 25-30 years, as per the government officials. If GENCOS follow this and opts for buying captive rakes, coal rake movement in H2CY22 will be higher against last year and even against H1CY22.
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