Coal news and updates

Coal stocks at power plants up in March

March 27: Coal stocks at 100 thermal power plants (TPS) in India rose slightly in March 2014 compared to that in the previous month, according to data released by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).

Coal stocks at the 100 TPS stood at 20.01 million tons (mt) on March 25, up from 19.06 mt recorded a month ago on February 27, the data showed.

However, in terms of days, coal stocks were marginally up to 14 days as on March 25, against 12 days as on February 27.

The stocks of imported and domestic coal stood at 1.453 mt and 18.555 mt on March 25 while imported and domestic coal stocks stood at 1.424 mt and 17.636 mt on February 27 respectively.

The change in the overall coal stocks situation also affected the number of plants facing a critical coal stocks situation of less than four days, the CEA data revealed.

The number of plants facing critical coal stocks position of less than seven days stood at 20 on March 25 compared to 25 plants facing a similar fate on February 27.

However, the number of plants facing a super-critical coal stocks scenario of less than four days stood at 9 on March 25 while on February 27, a total of 13 plants faced a similar situation.