Government is building coal production stock to ensure sufficiency

The government on Thursday said that it is planning to augment coal stock at thermal power plants to 45 million tonnes by March-end owing to the increase in domestic production of fossil fuel over the past few months.

"The Ministry of Coal is planning to build stock at domestic coal-based plants to the tune of 30 million tonnes by the end of November, 2022," the coal ministry said in a statement.

Over the past summer, the thermal power plants witnessed severe shortage of coal leading to power cuts in many parts of the country. To prevent the situation from repeating itself, the Coal Ministry is working hard to spike the production ensuring sufficient stock in the power plants.

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Ministry of Power, Railways and Coal are working judicially to encourage transportation of dry-fuel via sea route, Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said.

Also Read | India to be self-sufficient in thermal coal production by FY25: Coal minister

The Centre is closely monitoring issues related to production, transportation and quality of domestic coal, Joshi added.

Coal India, which accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output, has increased its output production by more than 17 per cent," the ministry said.

The Coal Ministry plans to keep building the stock so that by March 31, 2023, coal stock at Thermal Power Plants (TPP) goes up to 45 million tonnes. The total coal output in the country stands at 448 million tonnes as of October, 18 per cent higher than the production in previous financial year over the respective time period.

The availability of average coal rakes per day registered a growth of nine per cent in the April-October period of the current fiscal, thereby helping transportation of higher quantity of dry-fuel and building up stocks at power plants.