Energy crisis: Pralhad Joshi says India has 72.50 MT coal available at different sources

• Stating that there is sufficient coal availability in the country, Joshi said that the same will last for a month and availability is getting replenished on a daily basis with record production
• As per the provisional data of the Ministry of Coal, the total coal production during the financial year 2021-22 has touched 777.23 MT as compared to 716 MT during 2020-21

New Delhi: Union Minister for Coal Pralhad Joshi said that at present 72.50 Million Tonnes (MT) of coal is available at different sources of Coal India Ltd (CIL), Singareni Colleries Company Ltd (SCCL), coal washeries etc. In a tweet on Saturday, the minister said that 22.01 MT coal is available with Thermal Power Plants (TPPs). Stating that there is sufficient coal availability in the country, Joshi said that the same will last for a month and availability is getting replenished on a daily basis with record production.

India's coal production for 2021-22 at 777.23 MT

It may be recalled that as per the provisional data of the Ministry of Coal, the total coal production during the financial year 2021-22 has touched 777.23 MT as compared to 716 MT during 2020-21, recording a growth of 8.55 percent. Coal India Ltd (CIL) production has gone up by 4.43 percent from 596.24 MT in 2020-21 to 622.64 MT during the financial year 2021-22.

Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) produced 65.02 MT during 2021-22 compared to 50.58 MT the previous year, an increase of 28.55 percent. At the same time, coal production of captive mines has gone up to 89.57 MT. During 2020-21 it was only 69.18 MT.

Total coal dispatch during 2021-22 touched the figure of 818.04 MT against the figure of 690.71 MT the previous year, an increase of 18.43 percent. During the period, CIL dispatched 661.85 MT coal against 2020-21 figure of 573.80 MT.

Backdrop

Coal stock at thermal power plants have dipped to below normative levels as temperatures rise, stoking concerns about another energy crisis. Some states are already reporting power outages of more than eight hours. The government has although assured that it is prepared to handle the rise in power demand, however, availability and transportation of coal to both power and non-power sector remains a challenge. India imports around 200 MT of coal, around 80 MT of which is consumed by the power sector. Due to a rise in international coal prices, the pressure of meeting this demand for 200 MT of coal from sectors that used to import the dry fuel has landed on domestic producers. India's highest coal production on record so far is 777.23 MT recorded in 2021-22, while the overall consumption of coal is over 900 MT.

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