New Delhi: State-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) on Wednesday said it is aiming to supply 610 million tonne coal to power plants in the current fiscal. In the just concluded financial year 2022-23, the miner supplied a record 586.6 million tonne (MT) dry fuel to coal-fired power plants.
In the wake of forecasts that a hot summer may push up coal demand, CIL said it is gearing itself to meet the requirement on the back of adequate coal stocks at its pitheads and increased production in the first quarter of FY24.
In FY23, CIL surpassed its target of 700 MT for the fiscal and produced 703.20 MT of coal, 13 per cent higher from 622.63 MT in 2021-22.
“With increasing production and adequate coal stock of 69 MT at our pitheads, we aim to meet the projected target with our best shot and satiate the demand. Ramping up production should not be a problem,” a company executive said.
The domestic coal available in the system as of April 1, 2023 is around 125 MT. This includes 69.6 MT at CIL’s pitheads, 34.6 MT at thermal power plants, 13.7 MT at goods sheds, washeries, captive mines and ports put together, around 3 MT in transit and 4.5 MT at Singareni Collieries Company Limited.
The minister also assured of an uninterrupted supply of coal in the approaching summer season — when the peak demand is expected to be 229 GW during April.