The despatch of coal by CIL to the power sector declined 6.6% to 236.97 million tonnes (MT) in April-October period of the ongoing fiscal. CIL had supplied 253.76 MT of coal to the power sector in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, according to government data. The fuel supply by Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) to the power sector in the seven-month period dropped to 18.47 MT from 29.82 MT a year ago.
In October, the fuel supply by SCCL declined to 3.32 MT from 4.19 MT in the corresponding month of previous fiscal. However, the despatch of coal by Coal India Ltd (CIL) to the power sector increased 13.5% to 38.50 MT in October from 33.91 MT in the year-ago period.
After governments imposition of nationwide lockdown on March 25, power consumption started declining from March onwards due to fewer economic activities in the country.
Covid-19 situation affected power consumption for six months in a row from March to August this year. Power consumption on year-on-year basis declined 8.7% in March, 23.2% in April, 14.9% in May, 10.9% in June, 3.7% in July and 1.7% in August. CIL, one of the major suppliers of the fossil fuel to the power sector, accounts for over 80% of the domestic coal output. It is eyeing one billion tonnes of output by 2023-24.
