New Delhi: The closing stock of coal at domestic thermal power plants as on October 31 was 25.6 million tonnes (MT) -- the highest-ever in the month of October except for FY'21, the government said on Tuesday. The supply of coal to the power sector is regularly being supervised by the coal ministry in close coordination with the ministries of power and railways.
The domestic coal supply to the power sector is 12 per cent more than the same period of last year, which is the highest ever supply in the first seven months of any fiscal. With an aim to scale up production capacity, the coal ministry has recently put 141 new coal blocks on auction for commercial mining, the coal ministry said in a statement.
The ministry is closely coordinating with states and central ministries concerned to put into operation mines auctioned earlier. The government is also taking steps to augment rail connectivity infrastructure for all major mines under PM-GatiShakti to ensure faster evacuation of coal. The coal ministry is committed to ensure adequate availability of the dry fuel to the power sector, it added.
Many states faced power outages due to shortage of coal in the summer season this year. However, the coal ministry had said the "power crisis" happened mainly on account of the sharp decline in electricity generation from different fuel sources and not due to the non-availability of domestic coal.
The government had attributed the low coal stocks at power plants to several factors such as heightened power demand due to the boom in the economy post-COVID, early arrival of summer, rise in price of gas and imported coal, and sharp fall in electricity generation by coastal thermal power plants. (PTI)
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