Coal supply by Coal India Limited (CIL) to the power sector declined by 5.3% to 318.04 million tonnes (MT) in the April-December period of the ongoing fiscal. They had supplied 335.92 MT of coal to the power sector in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. In December 2020, the fuel supply by Coal India (CIL) dropped to 40.25 MT against 43.04 MT in the same month last fiscal year.
The fuel supply by Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) to the power sector in the nine-month period dropped to 26.87 MT from 39.32 MT a year ago. In December 2020, the fuel supply by SCCL declined to 4.50 MT from 4.88 MT in the corresponding month of previous fiscal. CIL is a major supplier of the dry fuel to the power sector in India.
The government had imposed nationwide lockdown in March last year to contain the spread of COVID-19. Power consumption started declining from March 2020 onwards due to fewer economic activities in the country. The COVID-19 situation affected power consumption for six months in a row from March to August last year. 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.
