‘Coal stock comfortable, commercial mines to produce 145 mt in FY24’

livemint.com:

NEW DELHI : With the likelihood of 11 auctioned commercial mines becoming operational in the current fiscal year, coal output from commercial and captive mines will reach 145 million tonnes (mt) in FY24, said coal secretary Amrit Lal Meena. Last year production from commercial and captive mines was about 116 mt. In an interview, the secretary said that the target for this output from commercial mines is 162 mt, and that production is expected to reach 145 mt.

He said the 30 mt year-on-year growth would be of major support to the growing demand. He said the stock at mine pitheads is “quite comfortable" and that there is no shortage of coal to meet the power sector’s demand. However, some parts of coastal areas may need to import some coal for logistical ease.

Edited Excerpts: What is the coal stock situation? Is there a need to import coal? Coal stock is quite comfortable. With the decline in rains, production picks up. There will not be any problem in terms of shortage of the coal.

We have adequate coal. There is enough coal at the mine end. But many of the plants are located far off in which there is distance of 1,000-1,500 km.

One rack goes and returns in five days. Given the overall limited availability of railway racks, it takes time to reach the far-off thermal plants. There is a possibility of some kind of shortage of also, in the remote places, which we call logistically constrained thermal power plants.

For logistically constrained thermal power plants, coal should either come from Coal India Ltd or it should come from other sources. Many of these plants are located near the coastal areas. Such imported coal-based plants are designed for imported coal.