Coal Demand

Union minister G Kishan Reddy on Thursday said that since India's energy demand was growing rapidly, the government was working on augmenting the coal production to achieve the dream of 'Viksit Bharat'. The Coal and Mines Minister also said the government has set the target of producing one billion tonnes of coal this year in a bid to ensure that people do not have to face power shortage, especially in the summer season. Noting that there was a huge demand for critical minerals like lithium and copper, he said India was acquiring critical mineral blocks in Argentina. Reddy addressed the coal industry workers at the National convention of Akhil Bharatiya Khadan Mazdoor Sangh affiliated to Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh here, and later also interacted with reporters. "Energy demand is increasing rapidly in India and coal is an important pillar of our energy security. The government is moving forward with the target of one billion tonnes of coal production for this financial year. Coal ...

State-owned CIL's coal production rose by 2.4 per cent to 471 million tonnes (MT) in the April-November period of the current financial year. Coal India Ltd (CIL) produced 460 MT of coal in the year-ago period. CIL accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic coal production. The company's production also rose by 1.7 per cent to 67.2 MT in November against 66 MT in the corresponding month a year ago, CIL said in a regulatory filing to BSE. Coal offtake by CIL, which is the amount of dry fuel supplied from coal pitheads, rose by 1.5 per cent to 492.6 MT in the April-November period of the current fiscal, compared to 485.2 MT in the year-ago period. The company's coal offtake in November was almost flat at 63 MT, over 62.9 MT in the corresponding month of the previous fiscal, the filing said. Coal India Ltd said it produced 773.6 million tonnes of coal in 2023-24 but fell short of its production target of 780 MT for the fiscal. Its production was 703.2 MT in the preceding 2022-23

China remains the biggest buyer of Russian coal but Moscow has said India may overtake it by the start of the next decade

The coal sector has registered a growth of 10.2 per cent among all eight core industries of the economy in May, the government said on Thursday. The index of coal industry has reached 184.7 points during May as compared to 167.6 points during the same month last year. "The coal sector has demonstrated highest growth of 10.2 per cent (provisional), following the electricity industry among the eight core industries for the month of May, 2024 as per the Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI)) (Base Year 2011-12) released by Ministry of Commerce & Industries," the coal ministry said in a statement. The driving force behind growth can be attributed to a considerable rise in coal production during May. This increase in production underscores the sector's capacity to meet growing demand of energy and manufacturing industries. The exceptional expansion of the coal sector, coupled with its substantial role in propelling the overall growth of the eight core industries, stands as evidence of .

Russia's exports of all types of coal to India over the period fell 22.4 per cent from a year earlier

The country's coal production rose by 10.15 per cent to 83.91 million tonnes (MT) in May compared to 76.18 MT in the year-ago period. Coal production by state-owned CIL rose by 7.46 per cent to 64.40 MT in May compared to 59.93 MT in the year-ago period, according to the Coal Ministry's provisional data. Coal India Ltd (CIL) accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output. "Additionally, coal production by captive and other entities in May 2024 stood at 13.78 MT (provisional), reflecting a growth of 32.76 per cent from the previous year, which was 10.38 MT," the ministry said in a statement. Similarly, India's overall coal dispatches in May reached 90.84 MT, up by 10.35 per cent as against 82.32 MT reported in the same period last financial year. During the reported month, CIL dispatched 69.08 MT of coal, with a growth of 8.50 per cent compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal when it was 63.67 MT. The total stock of dry fuel with coal companies stands at

Electricity consumption in India is growing at the fastest rate of any major economy, driven by rising temperatures and incomes, which have pushed up sales of power-intensive appliances like ACs

Captive and commercial coal blocks produced 147 million tonne coal in financial year 2023-24, registering a year-on-year growth of 27 per cent, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Wednesday. The mines had produced 116 MT coal during 2022-23. Out of 147.2 MT, power sector captive mines produced around 121.3 MT, non-power sector mines produced 8.4 MT and the production from commercial mines was 17.5 MT, Joshi said in a post on X. The production from power sector captive mines in FY24 rose 19 per cent as compared to the previous year. In non-power captive mines, the production growth was 63 per cent year-on-year. Output from commercial coal mines registered the highest year-on-year growth of 93 per cent in FY24. Dispatch from the mines during FY24 was 143 MT as against 110 MT in FY23. A total of 9 new coal mines commenced production during FY24 which includes 4 captive mines and 5 commercial mines. "The Ministry extends its appreciation to all stakeholders for their dedication and

Coal's days are numbered, of course. Advances in solar and wind have made those technologies far cheaper than coal power in most parts of the world, and similar gains for batteries

The government is expecting a major share of the load to fall on coal-based power to meet demand and is boosting coal supply at all ends

Indicating sufficient coal availability in the market, the National Coal Index (NCI) declined 4.75 per cent in December. The NCI was at 155.44 points in December 2022, the coal ministry said in a statement on Thursday. This decline shows a strong supply of coal in the market, with sufficient availability to meet the rising demand. NCI is a price index that combines coal prices from all sales channels, including auction and import prices. It considers prices of coking and non-coking coal of various grades transacted in the regulated (power and fertiliser) and non-regulated sectors. "The National Coal Index (Provisional) has shown a significant decline of 4.75 per cent in December 2023 at 155.44 points compared to December 2022, where it was at 163.19 points," the coal ministry said in a statement. Established with the base year as 2017-18, the price index serves as a reliable indicator of market dynamics, providing valuable insights into price fluctuations. "The downward traject

Coal is likely to account for the lion's share of this expansion, as gas-fired electricity generation is currently unviable due to the high costs of the fuel

Average power purchase cost increased by 71 paise per unit during FY22-23 due to a rise in various overheads like transmission and distribution rates, Parliament was informed on Thursday. On the rise in power cost due to increased use of imported coal, Union Power Minister RK Singh, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha, said, "Average power purchase cost increased by 71 paise only between FY22 and FY23. This is because of increase in various costs including an increase in transmission and distribution costs". The minister explained that with the rise in electricity demand from July 2021 onwards, the consumption of coal in thermal power plants increased. The supply of domestic coal on a daily basis was less than consumption, which resulted in the depletion of coal stock and stocks at plants came down from 28.7 million tonnes (MT) as of June 30, 2021, to about 8.1 million tonnes (MT) as of September 30, 2021, he added. Therefore, in December 2021, the Ministry of Power advised state

NTPC, which produces mostly coal-fired power, has surged 78%, far ahead of a gain of 17% in the broader Nifty Index, while shares of Coal India are up 55% for their best year in 2023

State-owned CIL on Tuesday said that its capital expenditure increased by 7.6 per cent to Rs 10,492 crore in the first eight months of the ongoing financial year. The public sector enterprise's captital expenditure was Rs 9,751 crore in the year-ago period, Coal India Ltd (CIL) said in a BSE filing. "CIL's capital expenditure increased by Rs 741 crore in eight months ending November FY 2024 to Rs 10,492 crore," the company said in a statement. Coal India accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output. "We are striving to achieve around 80 per cent of the current financial year's total targeted capex of Rs 16,500 crore by the third quarter ending December," a senior executive of the company said. CIL's intensified focus on strengthening coal evacuation infrastructure in its mining areas saw the capex going up to Rs 3,247 crore, representing 31 per cent of the entire capex, till November in the current fiscal. "Setting up railway sidings and corridors at Rs 1,842 crore; ...

The transition away from coal is not happening in India in the foreseeable future, Parliament was informed on Monday. Although India is pushing for renewable, non-fossil-based energy, but the share of coal in the energy basket is going to remain significant in the years ahead to ensure affordable energy availability, coal and mines minister Pralhad Joshi said. "In India, the transition away from coal or Just Transition is not happening in the foreseeable future," the minister said. Replying to a query in the Rajya Sabha, the minister said although, in due course, some mines may close down due to exhaustion of reserves, at the same time, many new coal blocks are being operationalised to meet the growing energy demand. "These mines are not only ensuring affordability and energy security of the nation but also providing new additional opportunities for new employment and redeployment of workers in new mines from the to-be-closed mines to ensure better livelihood and also generate ...

The coal ministry on Thursday said the dispatch of coal is likely to exceed one billion tonnes in the current financial year. The coal ministry has set a target to produce and dispatch 1,012 million tonnes (MT) of coal to consumers during the ongoing fiscal. "During the second half of the year, the rate of production and dispatch is normally higher than the first half of the year. It is, therefore, expected that this year's dispatch of coal would exceed the one billion tonne mark," the coal ministry said in a statement. During the last financial year, coal dispatch of 500 MT happened as on November 9. During the current year, the 500 MT dispatch mark has been achieved 23 days in advance. "Achieving record high performance, the Ministry has been able to dispatch 500 MT coal as on October 17 2023. Dispatch of 500 MT of coal in 200 days, despite the monsoon season, in the first half of the year, is an outstanding achievement," it said. Out of 500 MT of coal dispatch, 416.57 MT has be

Figure is in sync with power ministry's estimate that demand would top 220 Gw in Apr-June quarter

Downpour allows power plants to stock coal for upcoming summer months

Unusually high temperatures for this time of year are fueling predictions that electricity demand might rise to a record this summer