Coal stocks sufficient to meet rising demand, says Union Minister Pralhad Joshi
coal stock with thermal power plants and Coal India Ltd, coal minister Pralhad Joshi said on Tuesday. Almost 80 million tonnes of coal are available at plants and with the state-owned miner, he wrote on microblogging site X.
The minister's comments come in the wake of rising electricity demand because of the humid weather and higher irrigation due to dry spells in some regions.
In a meeting held for ensuring coal production and supply to power plants, Joshi also emphasised on boosting transporting of the fuel via the rail-sea-rail route.
Electricity demand met in India hit a fresh record in August, touching 234 GW on August 17.
Experts attributed the unanticipated rise in demand to the dry spell in some parts of the country and humid weather.
Coal stocks at power plants have depleted at a tad faster than previous months, but are still sufficient. The stocks fell to 32 million tonnes from 34.9 million tonnes in the first 20 days of August.
This is because March-May this year saw less electricity demand on an average with lower-than-usual temperature that resulted in less-than-expected depletion of coal stocks at plants. Closing stocks at plants so far in monsoon, when coal production typically slows, have been adequate.
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