The dispatch of coal to the power sector registered a 5.5 per cent decline at 56.49 million tonnes last month. The coal supply to the power sector was at 59.79 million tonnes (MT) in October 2021.
"The power utility dispatch has reduced by 5.51 per cent to 56.49 MT during October 2022 as compared to 59.79 MT in October 2021," provisional statistics of the coal ministry showed. However, in April-October period of ongoing financial year, the dispatch increased 13.07 per cent to 413 MT from 365.25 MT in the year-ago period.
The overall dispatch of dry fuel to different sectors in October also dropped to 67.02 MT from 70.21 MT in the year-ago period. The supply to captive power plants also fell to 3.54 MT from 4.97 MT.
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, a rise in the price of gas and imported coal and sharp fall in electricity generation by coastal thermal power plants.