Regional Coal: India's coal stocks surge in June
Wednesday, July 3 2024 - 09:33 AM WIB
India's coal stocks at domestic coal-based (DCB) Thermal Power Plants (TPPs) reached 44.46 million tonnes (MT) as of June 29, 2024, reflecting a 33% increase from the same period last year, according to a report from Asian-Power.com.
The Ministry of Coal highlighted that the current coal supply is sufficient to meet the 18.5-day requirement based on the present level of consumption. This rise in coal availability is attributed to a notable increase in coal production, which saw a 10.58% growth in the first quarter of 2024, while supply grew by 8.50%.
In preparation for the monsoon season, the Ministry secured 98.67 MT of stock at the pithead of mines (including coal in transit) as of June 30, 2024, marking a 33.5% increase compared to last year.
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"Currently, the stock availability at the TPP end is 68% of the normative requirement, up from about 50% during the same period last year," the Ministry stated.
The fiscal year 2023-2024 saw no reported scarcity of coal at domestic TPPs, with coal stocks standing at 47 MT as of March 31, 2024. This year, the coal ministry aims to maintain similarly high stock levels at TPPs and mine pitheads.
Furthermore, the Ministry reported a 10.54% increase in the number of rakes per day compared to last year, ensuring sufficient stock during the monsoon season. It assured ongoing collaboration with the railways and power ministries to guarantee adequate coal availability at all domestic coal-based TPPs across the country.
Editing by Alexander Ginting