 "Coal shortage")
The supply of coal by state-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) to the power sector dropped by 10 per cent to 197.89 million tonnes (MT) in the first half of the ongoing fiscal.
Coal India had supplied 219.85 MT of coal in the April-September period of the previous fiscal, according to official data.
However, the supply of fuel by the coal behemoth to the power sector increased by 22.4 per cent to 35.74 million tonnes (MT) in September compared to 29.20 MT in the corresponding month of previous fiscal.
The country's power consumption registered a growth of 11.45 per cent to 55.37 billion units (BU) in the first half of October this year, mainly driven by buoyancy in industrial and commercial activities.
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 per cent in March, 23.2 per cent in April, 14.9 per cent in May, 10.9 per cent in June, 3.7 per cent in July and 1.7 per cent in August.
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Coal India which is one of the major suppliers of the fossil fuel to the power sector accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic coal output.
CIL is eyeing one billion tonnes of output by 2023-24.
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