 "Coal sector up 10.9% among core industries in Nov on domestic output boost")
India's coal sector grew 10.9 per cent (provisional) among eight core industries in November 2023, the government informed on Monday. "The cumulative index of the coal sector during April-November (2023-2024) FY24 increased by 12.8 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous year", the data released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industries showed.
This means that the combined index of eight core industries showed an increase of 7.8 per cent (provisional) in November 2023 compared to the same period of the previous year, the press release stated. India's core sectors constitute cement, coal, crude oil, electricity, fertilisers, natural gas, refinery products and steel.
The ministry attributed the growth to a substantial surge in coal production in November, reaching 84.52 million tonnes (MT), a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) jump of 10.97 per cent. The rise in India's coal production was recorded due to a number of steps taken by the government in the area of energy security including, "domestic production through an auction-based regime for commercial coal mining, engaging Mine Developer cum Operators (MDOs) to ramp up domestic coal output and reopening of discontinued mines on a revenue-sharing model to boost coal production", the ministry noted.
Last week, the coal ministry reported a significant increase in the country's coal production at 12.29 per cent to 664.37 million tonnes (MT) from April to December 25 (Y-o-Y) in FY24.
"As per the latest statistics of the Ministry of Coal, the cumulative achievement in coal production during FY 202324, from April 2023 to December 25, 2023, has touched 664.37 MT, indicating a substantial 12.29 per cent growth compared to the corresponding period last year at 591.64 MT," according to an official statement released Thursday.
The increase in coal production has been a key focus for the government due to the rising demand for power. As per the ministry, "the overall coal dispatch to the power sector from April to December 25, 2023, increased by an impressive 8.39 per cent, reaching 577.11 MT compared to 532.43 MT during the corresponding period of the previous year."
Ratings agency Fitch, in a report released in November, had projected India's power demand to rise around 7 per cent in FY24. Attributing the increase to robust industrial growth, the agency, in the report titled 'India Power Monitor – 1HFY24' had said that in the first half of the year, the power demand grew by 7.1 per cent. However, it projected that FY24 demand will be lower than the 9.5 per cent recorded in FY23.