New Delhi: India is holding 123 Million Tonnes (MT) of coal, enough to meet 51 days of demand, Union Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy said on Tuesday. He was speaking on the sidelines of an event organised to launch Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) framework for coal and lignite PSUs. "We have 123 million tonnes of coal available with us, which is sufficient for 51 days in the country. Therefore, there is no problem with power plants having critical coal stock," Reddy said.
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Of that total, around 100 MT is either lying with the coal-producing companies or in transit, according to the minister. Power producers are separately holding stocks that will last them 23 days. Reddy said there was no cause for concern, with the Coal Ministry and the coal companies both monitoring supplies.
Heavy monsoon rainfall held up coal production for roughly 10 days, Reddy said, though operations have since returned to normal. He added that output could climb further if the weather stayed favourable. Production so far is running 4.5 percent higher year-on-year, according to the minister.
National availability figures do not capture how stocks are distributed across individual generating stations, and those stocks are uneven. The Central Electricity Authority's (CEA) latest report places 61 plants in the critical category. Of these, 53 run on domestic coal, four on imported coal and one on washery rejects.
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A thermal power plant is classified as critical when its coal inventory drops below 25 percent of its normative stock requirement.
