Coal Ministry Plans 1,404 Million Tonne Production By 2027

The Union Ministry of Coal said it has plans to produce 1,404 million tonnes (MT) of coal by the year 2027 and 1,577 MT by the year 2030, at the current level of production of about 1,000 MT per annum.

The coal to be supplied to domestic coal-based power plants is around 821 MT for the current year.

In a release, the ministry stated it has taken note of the additional coal requirement for supplying to additional 80 giga-watt thermal capacity to be added in the country by 2030.

The coal requirement for additional thermal capacity would be around 400 MT at 85 per cent plant load factor (PLF), and the actual requirement may be lower depending on the generation requirements in the coming times due to contributions from renewable sources.

"Ministry of Coal has plans to produce additional quantity of coal in its production enhancement plan and will ensure adequate availability of domestic coal to thermal power plants," the ministry's release said.

The production plan includes the opening of new mines, expansion of mine capacity and production from captive or commercial mines.

"The production plans for years 2027 and 2030 will far exceed the likely domestic requirement of thermal power plants in the country, including that for likely additional capacity." Coming to the coal situation for the current year, the ministry said stocks have started building up and the coal stock at the thermal power plants is now around 20 MT and at the mines it is 41.59MT. The total stock (including transit and captive mines) is 73.56 MT as compared to 65.56 MT during last year, showing growth of 12 per cent year-on-year.

The Ministries of Coal, Power and Railways are working in close coordination and accordingly, smooth coal supplies have been maintained by far.

In other news, the Ministry of Coal is gearing up for the launch of the 8th round of auctions for Commercial Coal Mines on Wednesday, taking a step forward towards making India self-reliant in coal.

The coal sector opened for commercial coal mining in 2020, with the first-ever successful auctions of commercial mining launched in June 2020. Since then, the ministry has conducted seven rounds of auctions, and 91 mines have been auctioned, with a peak rated capacity of 221 million tons per annum, another release from the ministry stated.