CIL, the largest coal-producing company in the world, is a major supplier of dry fuel to the power industry in India.
The supply of coal to the power sector by state-owned CIL decreased by 8 percent to 42.30 million tons in March, following a fall in the demand for fuel due to a lockdown. CIL dispatched 45.84 million tons (MT) of coal during the corresponding month of 2018-19, the Ministry of Coal said in its latest report to the Cabinet.
In 2019-20, the supply of fuel to the power sector by Coal India Ltd (CIL) decreased by 6 per cent to 463 MT compared to 491.5 MT in 2018-19.
CIL, the largest coal-producing company in the world, is a major supplier of dry fuel to the power industry in India.
The supply of coal to the power sector by state-owned Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) also decreased by 19 percent to 4.35 MT in March, from 5.35 MT in the previous year.
In 2019-20, SCCL delivered 52.95 MT of coal compared to 55.38 MT in the previous fiscal year, with a decrease of 4.4 per cent.
With the energy market, a major user of dry fuel, seeing almost 30% decrease in fuel consumption during the lockdown, CIL has shifted its attention to overburden removal — the process of removing top soil and rock to reveal coal seams in its open-cast mines.
The increase in overload removal will allow CIL to boost production once demand picks up and coal can be supplied to its customers in a short time.
Over 95 per cent of CIL 's output comes from its 171 open casting mines.
The PSU removed 114.43 million cubic meters of overload from its open-cast mines in April 2020 compared to 104.22 million cubic meters in the same period last year, an increase of 9.7%.
The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) report reported that as of 30 April 2020, 50.89 MT of coal had been stored in powerhouses in India, enough to last 31 days.
CIL itself has a pit-head stock of about 76 MT as of April 30.
The PSU is in frequent contact with its customers, especially in the southern states, and is continuing to increase the intake of domestic coal as a replacement for imported coal.
CIL, which accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output, sees one billion tons of production by 2023-24.
