FY21 coal demand may be lower than previously estimated due to COVID-19: Joshi
Coal demand in the current fiscal may be lower than the initial estimate of 1,085 million tonnes (MT) due to the impact of COVID-19, Parliament was informed on Monday. Domestic supply of coal during the April-December period of the ongoing financial year stood at 489.89 MT, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said in a reply in the Rajya Sabha.
“Initially demand of coal for current year i.e. 2020-21 was estimated at 1085 MT. However, due to COVID-19 effect actual demand of coal is likely to be less than estimated demand,” the minister said.
The demand of coal is higher than the current level of domestic supply of the fossil fuel, he added. In FY’20, the actual demand of coal in the country was 955.26 MT while the supply was 706.72 MT, Joshi said.
The gap between demand and domestic supply of coal cannot be bridged completely as there is insufficient availability and reserves of prime coking coal in the country, the minister said.
