Import of coal for blending purpose declines 54% in H1 due to improved availability

• The expected availability of coal from various domestic sources during 2020-21 is about 644 MT

• Out of this, CIL is projected to supply 526 MT, SCCL is expected to supply 55 MT and 63 MT is expected to come from captive mines

New Delhi: Due to increased availability of domestic coal, coal imported for blending purpose during April-September 2020 registered a decrease of about 54 percent as compared to the last year 2019, said the Ministry of Power in an official statement on Wednesday. The ministry had advised power generating companies that are importing coal for blending purposes to make efforts to replace their import with domestic coal. The power plants had also been advised by the CEA not to import coal for blending purposes and get their likely import of coal substituted with domestic coal. 

"These efforts have yielded results and coal imported for blending purpose during April-September 2020 registered a decrease of about 54 percent as compared to the last year 2019," said the Power Ministry.

Domestic availability of coal has increased 14% over FY2015-16 

The expected availability of coal from various domestic sources during 2020-21 is about 644 MT. Out of this, state-run Coal India Ltd (CIL) is projected to supply 526 MT, Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) is going to supply 55 MT and 63 MT is expected to come from captive mines. The overall coal requirement for the financial year stands at about 645 MT for the plants designed for domestic coal. So, there is sufficient availability of coal to meet the requirements of thermal power plants in the country.

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The ministry also said that coal receipt has substantially increased from 561 MT in 2015-16 to 638 MT in 2019-20, registering an increase of about 14 percent. The coal stock available with the power plants monitored by CEA on a daily basis is about 37.59 MT as on December 29, which is sufficient for an average of 21 days.

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