NEW DELHI: Coal India Limited (CIL), the country’s largest coal miner, announced on Thursday that it has achieved a significant milestone by exceeding its annual coal supply target for the power sector for the financial year 2023-2024 (FY24).
The company supplied 610.8 million tonnes (MT) of coal to thermal power plants across the country, surpassing the set target of 610 MT. This achievement comes four days ahead of the official closure of FY 2024.
CIL’s coal supplies to power plants have witnessed a steady increase. Compared to the same period in the previous financial year, deliveries increased by 29.3 MT, representing a 5% growth. Currently, the company is averaging a supply of 1.76 MT per day to meet the growing demand from the power sector.
This marks the second consecutive year that CIL has surpassed its coal supply target for the power sector. In FY 2023, the company delivered 586.6 MT against a target of 565 MT.
The increased coal supply from CIL has positively impacted the stockpiles at domestic coal-based power plants. As of March 26, 2024, these plants held 47.1 MT of coal, a significant increase of 13.7 MT compared to the same period last year (33.4 MT).
This bolstered stock is expected to be crucial in meeting the surge in power demand during the upcoming summer season. Meanwhile, the coal minister, Pralhad Joshi, in a tweet said that India’s coal mining sector has achieved a milestone by breaching 1 billion coal and lignite dispatches for the first time in history.
“India moves 1 billion tonne Coal & Lignite. Thanks to the visionary #GatiShakti policy launched by PM Narendra Modi ji, India’s coal mining sector has achieved a milestone by breaching 1 BT coal & lignite dispatch, for the first time in history. Undertaking massive infrastructure expansion and boosting multi-modal connectivity in the mining sector have helped in improving logistics efficiency, thus resulting in faster evacuation of coal and lignite. #Mission1BT,” tweeted the minister.