New Delhi: The Centre on Monday said it is committed to ensuring adequate availability of coal and has worked out a strategy to ensure normal production of fossil fuel during the festive season.

"The Ministry of Coal has worked out a strategy... by way of offering higher wages to contractual workers during the season. This has resulted in 21 lakh tonnes of coal production by Coal India Limited (CIL) on Maha Ashtami i.e. equal to any normal day," an official statement said.

As per the latest figures, during the current financial year (till October 21) coal production in the country increased 12.73 per cent compared to the year-ago period.

After a long rain spell in early October in coal-producing states, the output of the dry-fuel has picked up in the last 10 days.

Total coal production from all sources is over 26.57 lakh tonnes per day in the last 10 days.

"During the last one week, the trend of coal stocks at thermal power plant end has been reversed. Now the daily supply of coal is more than the average daily consumption and there is a trend of coal stock accretion," it said.

Despite very high power demand, the coal ministry has maintained adequate availability of at all plants.

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