State-owned Coal India fuel supply to the power sector registered a decline of 19.5 per cent to 126.30 million tonnes (MT) in the April-July period of the ongoing fiscal in the wake of slump in coal demand.
Coal India Ltd (CIL) had despatched 156.86 MT of fuel in April-July last year, according to the latest data of the coal ministry.
The despatch of coal by CIL in July fell 12.4 per cent to 32.76 MT, from 37.41 MT supply in the corresponding month of the previous fiscal, it said. The coal despatch by Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) almost dropped by 47.2 per cent to 9.68 MT in the first four months of the current financial year, from 18.32 MT of fuel supplied in the corresponding period a year ago. The coal supply by SCCL last month dropped to 2.40 MT from 4.33 MT in July 2019.
Coal India accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output.
Demand for domestic coal is likely to be subdued in the second quarter of the current financial year due to lower demand from end-user industries amid the COVID-19 pandemic along with high inventory at power stations, India Ratings had said in a report. The rating agency had said domestic coal production remained subdued for the third consecutive month in June 2020 year-on-year as well as month-on-month due to low power demand and higher inventory at power stations.
Thus, coal offtake reduced in June 2020 year-on-year but improved month-on-month with the gradual relaxation in lockdown norms, it had said.
