Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh lead coal capacity expansion: Global Energy Monitor
In 2023, India brought online 5.5 GW of new coal-fired power plant capacity, more than double the 2.7 GW of new capacity added in 2022.
The Ministry of Coal has notified that the closing stock of coal at the domestic coal-based power plants, as on 31 October, this year was 25.6 Million Tons (MT) which is the highest ever in the month of October except for the Covid year of 2020-21.
It further said, ” The supplies of coal to the Power Sector is regularly being supervised by the Ministry in close coordination with the Ministries of Power and Railways. As a result, the domestic coal supply to the power sector is 12% more than in the same period of last year which is the highest-ever supply to the power sector in the first seven months of any financial year.”
The ministry said, “the total domestic coal production is 18% higher than the same period of the previous year with Coal India Limited (CIL), achieving a growth of 17.5%.”
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Moreover, The captive coal blocks produced 58.6 MT in the first seven months registering a growth of 37.5% over the same period of the previous year.
The domestic coal rake loading from all sources of CIL to the power sector has been at an all-time high of 296.5 rakes per day which is a 19% increase over the same period of the previous year.
It is worth noting that to enhance the coal production capacity, the Ministry of Coal has recently put 141 new coal blocks for commercial auction. Ministry is also closely coordinating with State Governments and central ministries concerned to operationalize mines auctioned earlier, on a fast track.
Ministry is also taking steps to augment rail connectivity infrastructure for all major mines under PM-Gatishakti to ensure faster evacuation of coal and the Ministry of Coal is committed to ensuring adequate availability of coal to the power sector.
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