Even as Coal India (CIL) is increasingly stepping up supplies with a target to create coal stocks between 47-50 million tonne (mt) at plant-heads by the fiscal end, as many as 80 thermal power stations are in a ‘critical’ stock situation, with stocks less than 25% of their normative requirement. This shortage persists despite the fact that CIL is likely to end the fiscal with the highest ever production of 630 mt and has also been making the highest despatches so far in the year.

A CIL official said stock-building was happening at a slower pace because power plants’ daily requirements were moving northwards and productions were primarily keeping pace with the daily requirement of 27.62 lakh tonne, as pegged by the Central Electricty Authority (CEA) . However, the average stock situation of all the 171 power plants across the country was at 39% of the normative stock requirement, with normative stock requirement being at 669.12 lakh tonne as of February 27, the CEA data shows.

Nevertheless, with production on the rise and daily coal requirement being largely met, the country doesn’t seem to face any large power crisis though in some cases shortage of generation have lead to increase in the cost of spot power. CIL’s linked supplies to the power plants have to be at 85% of PLF under the new CEA norms, but none of the power plants has maintained that level of capacity utilisation.

Power plants across the country have been generating at an average 63 % PLF as of January,the CEA data shows.

But CIL has produced 64.3 million tonnes (mt) in February with an increase of 2.4 mt compared to 61.9 mt of the corresponding month a year ago. The PSU miner’s month- on-month average production increased to 2.3 mt per day in February this fiscal, despite the month being three days lesser than January.

CIL is keeping its sequential production in February at par with the previous month, was fully focused on ending the current fiscal in the realm of 630 mt against 607 mt, the previous highest it produced in FY 19, a CIL executive said. CIL’s production at 542.4 mt during April-February this fiscal was a historic high and coal output surged ahead by 27.3 mt in absolute terms on a year-on-year comparison.

CIL’s off-take in February had a 12% growth at 57.4 mt compared to the same month last year with the gain in absolute terms being 6.2 mt. Till February, CIL’s total off-take was nearly 600 mt. “CIL despatched 608 mt in FY19, the highest to the date. The company is poised to record a new high in its despatch in the current fiscal recording 16.7% growth during April – February period this fiscal. Pit head stock liquidation to the tune of 56.7 mt till February this fiscal has been the highest in any year so far with 42.5 mt of inventory at the pit heads as of February end. CIL began the fiscal with a pit head stock of 99 mt.

However, despite CIL maintaining such growth momentum in its production, captive coal miners are faltering and new mine development are not gathering pace dis-enabling a sooner open market development. CIL would still have to go long way in shouldering the main responsibility in meeting the country’s crucial coal demand, a CIL executive said.