New Delhi: Supply of coal to the power sector by state-owned CIL declined by 2.6 per cent to 80.9 million tonnes in the first two months of the ongoing fiscal, government data showed. This comes amid coal imports rising 12.9 per cent to 235.2 million tonnes (MT) in FY'19 over 208.2 MT imported in FY'18.
The country's top dry-fuel miner Coal India Ltd (CIL) had supplied 83.1 MT of coal in April-May period of FY'18, according to government data. In May, coal dispatch by CIL dropped 4.9 per cent to 40.6 million tonnes from 42.7 MT in May 2017-18. Coal supply by SCCL also dropped by 2 per cent to 9.4 MT in April-May 2018-19, from 9.6 MT supplied in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. SCCL is a government coal mining company jointly owned by the Centre and Telangana.
The Centre had earlier said that no power plant was facing fuel shortages, adding that none of the thermal power plants have reported any loss of generation due to supply constraints. Coal India, which accounts for more than 80 per cent of domestic coal output, is targeting more than 8 per cent growth in production at 660 million tonnes in 2019-20 compared to 607 million tonnes in the last fiscal.
