Fuel supply by CIL to power sector drops 5% to 277 MT in Apr-Nov

Coal supply by state-run CIL to the power sector declined by 5.3 per cent to 277.46 million tonne (MT) in the April-November period of the ongoing fiscal. The state-owned company had supplied 292.88 million tonnes of coal to the power sector in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, according to official data.

In November the fuel supply by Coal India (CIL) was almost flat at 39.38 MT against 39.12 MT in November last year. The fuel supply by Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) to the power sector in the eight-month period dropped by 35 per cent to 22.37 MT from 34.44 MT a year ago.

In November, the fuel supply by SCCL declined to 3.9 MT from 4.62 MT in the corresponding month of previous fiscal, it said. CIL is a major supplier of the dry fuel to the power sector in India.

The government had imposed nationwide lockdown on March 25 to contain the spread of COVID-19. Power consumption started declining from March onwards due to fewer economic activities in the country. The COVID-19 situation affected power consumption for six months in a row from March to August this year. Power consumption on year-on-year basis declined 8.7 per cent in March, 23.2 per cent in April, 14.9 per cent in May, 10.9 per cent in June, 3.7 per cent in July and 1.7 per cent in August.

CIL, one of the major suppliers of the fossil fuel to the power sector, accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic coal output. It is eyeing one billion tonne of output by 2023-24..