Coal news and updates

‘Coal supplies will not be a cause for concern for power plants’

There is no cause for concern with regard to coal supplies to the country’s power plants, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy, Piyush Goyal said on Friday.

July 29 data show that power plants which had coal shortage have come down to 22 from above 40 a few days ago, said Goyal, while speaking to newspersons outside Parliament on Friday.

He added that coal stocks allotted to these plants are being utilised at a faster rate as generation has increased significantly. “The faster utilisation gives an impression of shortage of coal. But there is no cause for concern. Adequate measures have been taken to ensure sustainable generation of electricity,” said Goyal.

The Minister was speaking a day after production data for eight core sectors during the month of June was released. As per the data, electricity generation increased 15.7 per cent during June 2014 as compared to the same month last year. Similarly, coal production also went up 8.1 per cent during the month as compared to the previous month.

Source: The Hindu BusinessLine