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New Delhi: The daily drawdown of coal stocks at power plants has more than halved in October, but rebuilding was yet to start, the Ministry of Coal said on Friday, at a time when thermal power plants across the country were left with 33 percent of their normative coal stock. According to the ministry, the drawdown slowed from 0.243 million tonnes (MT) a day in September to 0.116 MT a day in October. “The position is therefore stabilising, although stock rebuilding is yet to commence,” it said. The ministry issued the statement in response to media reports that had flagged a growing risk of power shortages.
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The Central Electricity Authority’s (CEA) daily coal stock report for October 8 gave the scale of that position. The 191 thermal plants it tracks held 20.62 MT of coal against a normative requirement of 61.17 MT. The CEA calculates its benchmark daily requirement at 85 percent plant load factor (PLF). At that rate, the stock worked out to about 6.6 days of coal, against a norm of 20 days. The plants were also still burning more coal than they received. On October 8, they took in 2.68 MT and consumed 2.73 MT, the report showed.
The ministry said the stock position had to be read against the recovery in supplies since September. “Coal stock position needs to be viewed alongside the improvement since the September trough in supplies,” it said. “Daily supplies to the power sector have risen by around 36 percent from the September low, with October averaging about 9 percent higher than September.”
Rail movement had picked up in step, according to the statement. “Rail loading has strengthened correspondingly, averaging over 465 rakes per day in October, with the 470-rake target achieved on three consecutive days,” the ministry said. Its chart showed 477 rakes loaded on October 4, 470 on October 5 and 472 on October 6. September, by comparison, had averaged 426 rakes a day. The October average in the chart covered the first six days of the month. The ministry added that supplies through other modes, including road, had also improved.
Even with supplies improving, 87 of the 191 plants were holding critical stocks on October 8, CEA data showed. The CEA marks a plant critical when its stock falls below 25 percent of the normative level. For a plant away from the mines, which must hold 21 days of coal, that threshold worked out to a little over five days. For a pithead plant, whose norm is 13 days, it was just over three. Of the 87 critical plants, 79 ran on domestic coal. Six were designed for imported coal and two ran on washery rejects. Sixteen plants held less than a 10th of their normative stock.
The ministry said the list should not be read as a count of plants about to shut down. “The ‘critical stock’ tag is a norm-based trigger (plants holding less than the prescribed threshold of normative stock) and is designed to flag plants early, well before actual fuel shortage or generation loss occurs,” it said. “A plant appearing on this list is, by design, an early-warning entry and not an indication that it has run out of coal or is at imminent risk of shutting down.”
Location made the sharpest difference. Of the 87 critical plants, 83 were non-pithead plants, which receive coal by rail, sea or road rather than from an adjacent mine. The CEA tracks 158 non-pithead plants running on domestic coal, and 77 of them were critical. Together, they held 14.61 MT, or 29 percent of their normative stock, according to the CEA.
The 18 pithead plants were better placed. They held 48 percent of their norm, and four of them were critical. Measured in days, though, the two groups held about the same cover, a little over six days each. The gap in percentage terms came from the norm itself, which was 13 days for a pithead plant against 21 for a non-pithead plant.
The shortage was concentrated in a few states. Every one of Haryana’s five plants was critical. In Rajasthan, eight of the nine plants were on the list. The one exception was Shree Cement’s plant, which is designed for imported coal. Maharashtra had 15 of its 20 operating plants in the critical category, the most of any state. Uttar Pradesh followed with 11 of 23, Madhya Pradesh with eight of 14 and Karnataka with five of seven. By contrast, West Bengal had one critical plant out of 14, and Odisha two out of eight.
Two state utilities had their entire fleets on the list. All seven plants of Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (RRVUNL) were critical, with overall stock at 14 percent of the norm. All three plants of Haryana Power Generation Corporation Ltd (HPGCL) were critical too, at 13 percent. Maharashtra State Power Generation Company (Mahagenco) had six of its seven plants on the list, at 19 percent.
Across ownership, state generation companies had 32 critical plants and held 30 percent of their normative stock. Central sector utilities had 18 critical plants, at 32 percent. Within that group, NTPC had 10 of its 27 plants on the list, while its joint ventures (JVs) had six of seven. Independent power producers (IPPs) running on domestic coal accounted for 29 critical plants. Their stocks as a group stood higher, at 35 percent.
Some of the thinnest reserves were at plants running close to full load. GMR’s 600 MW Warora plant held 2 percent of its normative stock while running at a PLF of 97 percent this month, according to the CEA. The 1,350 MW Amravati plant was at 3 percent, with its PLF at 96 percent. Adani Power’s 3,300 MW Tiroda plant held 6 percent. At Haryana’s Panipat plant, which was at 15 percent, no coal arrived at all on October 8, even as the plant burned 3,000 tonnes.
Against each critical plant, the CEA recorded the step needed to restore stock, and most of these steps pointed to the coal companies. For 67 of the 87 plants, it named one or more coal companies to “ensure supply as per subgroup plan.” South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) was named for 22 plants, Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL) for 18 and Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) for 15. Further down the list came Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL) with 10 plants, Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL) with seven, Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) with six and Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) with four. Some plants were assigned more than one supplier, so these counts overlap. For five plants, including Amravati and Tiroda, the CEA named the Railways alongside the coal company.
At several coastal plants, the coal was in the supply chain rather than in the plant yard. For three plants, the CEA asked Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation (APGENCO) and Andhra Pradesh Power Development Company Ltd (APPDCL) to “liquidate port stock,” alongside supplies from MCL and the Railways. APPDCL’s Damodaram Sanjeevaiah plant held 14 percent of its normative stock at site. At the same time, the CEA recorded 3.49 lakh tonnes of its coal at the loading port. Two plants of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO), Mettur-II and Tuticorin, were also listed as having coal lying at port.
For the six critical imported-coal plants, the CEA’s remark was that each was to “build up stock through import.” Eight plants, including three of RRVUNL’s, were to draw more coal from their captive mines. Two were to step up lifting of coal by road.
On the plants already in the critical category, the ministry said action was under way. “The rise in plants with critical stocks is being closely monitored, with requirement-based redistribution of coal to vulnerable stations to ensure adequate supplies and uninterrupted power generation,” it said.
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The ministry tied the next stage of recovery to the retreating monsoon. “With the monsoon receding and peak demand expected to moderate by mid-October (as per historical trends) sustained loading of 465–475 rakes per day should support further stabilisation and enable stock rebuilding ahead of the festive, winter and subsequent summer demand periods, thereby reducing the number of plants in the critical category,” it said.
“The Ministry of Coal, in close coordination with the Ministries of Railways and Ministry of Power, is actively monitoring supplies and logistics to ensure that coal availability does not constrain power generation anywhere in the country,” the statement said.
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