New Delhi: Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday chaired a meeting with top officials of Coal Ministry including Coal Secretary Amrit Lal Meena to discuss ways to improve production as well as coal supplies to power plants. After the meeting, the minister posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, "Happy to share that coal stock at mine-end and in-transit has increased by 39 percent over last year, thus assuring sufficient coal availability in the country."

To strategise coal production and supplies in the following months, Joshi said he chaired a meeting with Coal Ministry officials and deliberated on ways to further increase coal dispatch to thermal power plants.

Coal supply to the power sector has grown by more than 10 percent in the second quarter Q2 (till 10th Sept). The government is committed to fulfilling coal requirements of the industries, the minister said.

According to official data, the coal dispatches to the power sector increased 6 percent to 324.5 million during the April-August period of the current fiscal over 306.70 MT during the year-ago period.