Coal Ministry charts multi-pronged strategy to meet higher fuel demand during summers

This year power demand has so far gone up by over 11 per cent y-o-y (FY23). Despite this, coal production rose over 15 per cent helping increase stocks at all levels. As of March 20, overall stocks of 108 million tonnes (mt) are there. By March 31, it is likely to go up to 115 mt , of which stocks at TPPs will be around 33 mt, 60 mt at mine pit heads and rest at washeries, good sheds and in transit. Ministries of Coal, Power and Railways are working in close coordination to ensure adequate availability during Q1 and Q2 FY24. We have prepared mine specific action plans, made arrangements for overburden removal (OBR), coal extraction and transportation. Strict monitoring is being done and everything is in position.

In monsoons, coal transportation suffered as trucks could not ply. So, for large sized mines, we have constructed cemented roads. Conveyor belt loading system has also been planned, which is called first mile connectivity (FMC) under PM GatiShakti. In fact, for mines with production of over 2 mt annually, we have planned 71 conveyor belt systems to be installed. It is operational in eight mines. Another 17 FMCs will be operational in FY24, and about 20 will become operational in FY25. This will reduce pollution, reduce truck movement, is cost-effective and completely mechanised. Loading coal in rakes through a payloader takes about three hours, but conveyors take 45 minutes and load variation from wagon to wagon is minimal.

Moving coal through rail-sea-rail (R-S-R) mode to west Indian States is very cost effective. For the first time this year, NTPC has floated tender and decided rates from Dadri and Jhajjar power plants. Orders have been placed. Similarly, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan are also in the process of finalising rates. So if coal movement starts from eastern ports to western ports through sea, this will free up 15 rakes per day capacity, if we fully utilise it. So 15 rakes a day from Paradip port and 8 from Dhamra port, reducing railway’s burden. This was the gap of 20-22 rakes which we were struggling with. So, the criticality was on this 29-30 mt of coal, which we have solved through various measures. At present, our coastal shipping is on an average delivering 40 rakes of coal daily. Paradip port Chairman has said that they can do 50 rakes a day, and Dhamra port Chairman said that they can do eight rakes. So, this capacity will slowly get added

Many commercial auction mine holders are taking proactive measures to produce earlier than scheduled as they will get a 50 per cent incentive on revenue share. For instance, if a mine taken on a revenue share of 20 per cent produces earlier than the marked period (actual date of mine opening and production prior to the target) they will get a 50 per cent discount. They don’t have to pay the government. Commercial coal auctions has led to around 8.9 mt production in FY23 from just 1.15 mt in FY22. In FY22, three mines came into production and one in FY23. In FY24, we expect four mines to become operational and another 10-15 in FY25.

For railways it is easier to evacuate coal from captive mines than from Coal India (CIL) sites, which are congested. At present, over 50-55 rakes a day are coming from captives. CIL dispatches around 300 rakes a day, but congestion is more. Share of captives is rising and their output currently is 5.5 lakh tonnes per day, which will come to around 114 mt in FY23, a record high. We have a dedicated cell in looking after clearances such as land, forest, etc on a day-to-day basis to ramp up production. In FY22, captive and commercial mines produced 89 mt, and in FY23, we will produce 114 mt. The target for FY24 is 162 mt .

Coal production from Rajmahal mines in Jharkhand is coming up. It supplies fuel to NTPC’s Kahalgaon and Farakka plants. For the last few years, it was not possible to produce due to certain reasons, but this year Jharkhand government has supported and production has started coming up. It will feed these two plants through conveyor belts/ local merry go round (MGR) systems, freeing up seven rakes per day that will be used in other places.

We are fully committed to ensure coal availability for the NRS. In FY23, there has been a little less supply to NRS. But in FY24, our production target is 1,012 mt , out of which 780 mt will come from CIL, 70 mt from SCCL and 162 mt from captives/ commercial. It is 15 per cent more y-o-y and will give us the leverage to supply more to NRS as power will grow at max 10 per cent and despite this, we will have the leeway to supply more coal.