Coal imports by Indian power utilities have registered a marginal rise of 3% during the first quarter of FY ’22 (Q1FY’22) aided by improved coal fired-generation.
Data provided by the power ministry showed that imports stood at 11.23 mn t in Apr-Jun ’21 against 10.86 mn t in Apr-Jun ’20. However, the volume was significantly lower than the pre-Covid period, when power plants had imported bulk of 18.45 mn t coal during Apr-Jun ’19.
It is pertinent to note that, coal-fired generation, notwithstanding the improvement seen in the previous fiscal, is still lower than the pre-Covid levels.
Overall, generation from coal-fired plants grew by 29% y-o-y to 256.7 billion units (BU) during Apr-Jun ’21 against 198.8 BU in Apr-Jun ’20, but was 4% lower than in Apr-Jun ’19 (pre-Covid period), when it was at 266.6 BU.
Moreover, power producers preferred to procure most of their coal requirement via the domestic route in view of the soaring global coal prices. Consequently, imports were curtailed as a result of the robust growth seen in domestic coal supply which increased 37% y-o-y to 160.4 mn t in the first quarter period.
Utility-wise coal imports
A break-up of imports indicates that plants designed to run on imported coal had taken major share of the total volume. Imports by these plants increased 3% y-o-y to 8.16 mn t in Apr-Jun ’21 compared with 7.93 mn t in Apr-Jun ’20 period.
Imports taken for blending purpose had also risen in the quarter under review. However, indicating a sign of improvement, imports of state-run plants were significantly reduced by 78% y-o-y to 0.21 mn t with TANGEDCO being the sole utility seen under this category.
Electricity demand in the country has been vacillating in FY ’22. Strong power generation seen in the beginning of the fiscal dipped in May and June when lockdown was re-introduced due to the second wave of Covid.
As the restrictions eased towards the end of Jun, electricity generation picked up and then saw a strong recovery in Jul.
The uptrend is expected to continue post-monsoon with resumption of construction activities. Nonetheless, power producers are likely to satiate their demand from domestic coal, staying away from imports until a correction is seen in the global market.
Leave a Reply