Coal news and updates

Expect fewer power cuts this summer as govt ensures enough coal supply to power plants

While 2022 saw a severe shortage of coal for power production, this year has benefited from higher coal production, unseasonal rains & better coordination between key ministries.

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New Delhi: Higher coal production, unseasonal rains in April and May, and better coordination between key ministries have meant that thermal power stations across the country have a much better supply of coal this year after last year’s supply crunch.

This should come as good news to industry and households alike because last year saw a severe shortage of coal, with power plants across the country forced to resort to ‘load-shedding’ as their coal stocks dwindled to critical levels. 

Coal stocks at a power plant are considered ‘critical’ when the level is less than 25 per cent of what would be needed for 26 days of power production. 

By mid-April 2022, coal stocks at power plants had fallen to nine days’ worth of coal, according to a report by the Economic Times.

The picture is different this year. According to market analysis company Crisil, coal stock availability at power plants was 13 days at the end of April 2023, while the number of plants with stocks at critical levels came down to 41 in April this year from 96 last April. 

“Proactive efforts by the central government and rains in April have ensured coal availability will be adequate to meet the imminent increase in power demand this summer, amid forecasts of heatwaves,” Crisil said in a research note Monday.

Coal secretary Amrit Lal Meena confirmed this to ThePrint, saying that not only has production increased this year, better coordination between the ministries of coal, power, and railways has also helped. 

“We are in a very comfortable position this year as compared to last year, with there being 35 megatonnes (MT) of coal available with thermal power plants and another 65 MT available at the pit-heads of coal mines, ready to be transported,” he said.