Thermal power plants have 25.6 MT coal stock: Govt

The ministry of coal on Tuesday said that power plants have a record 25.6 million tonnes of coal stock as there is a substantial increase in domestic coal production mainly from captive mines.

"Coal Ministry Monitoring coal supply to Power Sector on regular basis, works in close coordination with Ministries of Power and Railways," the coal ministry tweeted.

"As on October 31, this year was 25.6 Million Tonne (MT) which is the highest ever in October except for the Covid year of 2020-21. The domestic coal supply to the power sector is 12 per cent more than the same period of last year which is the highest ever supply to the power sector in the first seven months of any financial year," said a statement from the coal ministry.

The domestic coal supply to the power sector is 12 per cent more than in the same period of last year, which is the highest ever supply in the first seven months of any fiscal year.

The total domestic coal production is 18 per cent higher than in the same period of the previous year with Coal India Limited (CIL), achieving a growth of 17.5 per cent. The captive coal blocks produced 58.6 MT in the first seven months registering a growth of 37.5 per cent over the same period of the previous year, said the statement.

The domestic coal rake loading from all sources of CIL to the power sector has been at an all-time high of 296.5 rakes per day which is a 19 per cent increase over the same period of the previous year

To scale up production capacity, the coal ministry has recently put 141 new coal blocks on auction for commercial mining, the coal ministry said in a statement.

Many states faced power outages due to a shortage of coal in the summer season this year.

However, the coal ministry had said the "power crisis" happened mainly on account of the sharp decline in electricity generation from different fuel sources and not due to the non-availability of domestic coal.