Fuel supply by Coal India to power sector drops 7% in Apr-Oct

The despatch of coal by CIL to the power sector declined 6.6% to 236.97 million tonne (MT) in April-October period of the ongoing fiscal.

The State-owned company had supplied 253.76 meric tonnes of coal to the power sector in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, according to government data.

The fuel supply by Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) to the power sector in the seven-month period dropped to 18.47 meric tonnes from 29.82 meric tonnes a year ago, it said.

In October, the fuel supply by SCCL declined to 3.32 meric tonnes from 4.19 meric tonnes in the corresponding month of previous fiscal, it said.

However, the despatch of coal by Coal India Ltd (CIL) to the power sector increased 13.5% to 38.50 MT in October from 33.91 meric tonnes in the year-ago period, the data said.

The government had imposed nationwide lockdown on March 25 to contain the spread of COVID-19. Power consumption started declining from March onwards due to fewer economic activities in the country.

The COVID-19 situation affected power consumption for six months in a row from March to August this year. Power consumption on year-on-year basis declined 8.7% in March, 23.2% in April, 14.9% in May, 10.9% in June, 3.7% in July and 1.7% in August.

CIL, one of the major suppliers of the fossil fuel to the power sector, accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic coal output. It is eyeing one billion tonne of output by 2023-24.