Guwahati: After a record-breaking 777 million tonnes (MT) of coal output in 2021-22, India's domestic coal production has continued to climb in the current fiscal year.

Total domestic coal output in 2022-23 was 137.85 MT as of May 31, 2022, an increase of 28.6 percent from 104.83 MT in the same time in 2021. This trend is likely to continue in June 2022.

Coal India Ltd (CIL) boosted its coal production by 28% over the same period last year (as of on16th June, 2022). The domestic coal output target for the current fiscal year is 911 MT, up 17.2 percent over the previous year. Coal imports for blending by domestic coal-based (DCB) power plants declined to 8.11MT in 2021-22, the lowest level in the past eight years. This was made feasible by a robust domestic coal supply and expanded domestic coal output.

Imported Coal Based (ICB) power stations imported more than 45 MT of coal each year from 2016-17 to 2019-20. However, ICB power plant coal imports declined to 18.89 MT in 2021-22, and generation from these plants plummeted to 39.82 BU, compared to the 100+ BU that these plants had been generating for quite some time. Because of the high cost of imported coal, their generation has also remained low this year.

Over the previous five years, coal-based power generation has increased at a CAGR of 1.82 percent, while domestic coal supply to the power industry has grown at a CAGR of 3.26 percent. As a result, coal supply to the power sector has exceeded growth in coal-based power generation in previous years, and this trend is expected to continue this year.

The union power minister, R K Singh stated that the government was preparing to boost the coal supply at power plants to 40 million tonnes (MT) during the monsoon season. 

"Our reserve stock at power plants was 24 MT on April 1. On April 30, it fell to 19 MT, and on May 15, it fell to 15 MT. However, (coal) imports, it has risen to around 22.9 MT once again. "In response to a query on coal availability, the minister stated.