NEW DELHI: The abundance of coal in the country has led to decline in imports for blending purposes by the domestic power plants in the first three weeks (till April 22, 2024) of this month. This comes despite high demand for power due to a heat wave in the country.
According to the data from the coal ministry, imports declined to 1.42 million tonne (MT) till April 2024, 3.4% lower than 1.47 MT in the same period last year. The power ministry mandated generating companies (gencos) to blend imported coal in thermal power plants to prevent a coal crisis during the peak summer season.
Not only this, the supply to the non-power sector also surged by 28% to 12.75 MT till 22 April 2024. Official data reveals that supplies to the non-regulated sector (NRS), which includes industries like cement, steel, sponge iron, and aluminium, stood at 9.93 MT during the same period last year.
“Coal availability is high in the country this year, and there are no restrictions on prioritizing supply to the power sector. This is why coal dispatch to the non-power sector has skyrocketed this month,” said an official. The official also mentioned that coal price in the international market declined by 30% from the last year.
The price drop of the international coal led imported coal based (ICB) power plants run in the full capacity. Compare to the last, the power generation by imported coal based (ICB) power plants almost doubled from the last year.