CIL steps up coal despatch to power sector by 20% per day, plans to ramp it up further

• CIL's total supply also went up to 1.71 MTs per day during the first eight days of the ongoing month compared to 1.49 MTs per day last year
• Amid the spiralling international prices, non-power sector customers, under their exclusive auction window, opted for domestic coal, accounting for 37% of the total auction bookings

New Delhi: In the backdrop of low coal stocks at thermal power plants, state-run Coal India Ltd (CIL) has stepped up coal despatch to the power sector in the first eight days of September by about 20 percent per day. In an official statement released on Friday, the coal miner said, "CIL has stepped up supplies to power sector in the first eight days of September, clocking around 20 percent growth at an average of 1.39 MTs per day. Till same date of last year's September, the average supply per day was 1.16 MTs."

"We are aiming to augment total supply further to a level of 1.8 MTs per day consistently and 1.45 MTs per day to the power sector," said a senior official of the company. On account of increased demand from the power sector, CIL's total supply also went up to 1.71 MTs per day during the first eight days of the ongoing month compared to 1.49 MTs per day last year, achieving a growth of nearly 15 percent.

CIL's auction booking up 42% in April-August

CIL's e-auction bookings logged a robust 42 percent growth during April-August  year-on-year, on the back of a demand spike in coal-based power generation and soaring international coal prices. The booked volume during the ongoing fiscal, till August, has also witnessed a two-fold increase compared to nearly 20 MTs booked during April-August 2019.

CIL booked 53.3 million tonnes (MTs) of coal in the first five months of FY22, under the five auction categories. This is nearly 16 MTs higher compared to 37.5 MTs recorded in the corresponding period FY21. The add-on fetched was 30 percent over notified prices. 

Coal import down due to rise in international prices

Amid the spiraling international prices, non-power sector customers, under their exclusive auction window, opted for domestic coal, accounting for 37 percent or 19.7 MTs of the total auction bookings during April-August. Around 70 percent of the total offered quantity was booked by them. 

With the upsurge in coal-based power generation, the quantity booked by the power sector customers under special forward auction more than doubled to 17.3 MTs during the referred period against 8 MTs booked in the corresponding a period year ago. As the international coal prices soar, generation from 14 imported coal-based power plants of the country, who source their coal from overseas, dropped by 20 percent during April-August to 23.63 MW from 29.67 MW registered in the same period a year ago. 

The contraction was 30 percent in the month of August when power generation was 3.95 MW against 5.64 MW of same month last year. 

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