To avoid a repeat of power crisis that happened in April, the Power Ministry of India is reportedly instructed the State and Private sector utilities to ensure the delivery of 19 million tons of coal from overseas by end of June, 2022.
While the prices of coal has already shot up more in the global market, India (being the world’s second largest importer of coal) going for such a large sum of coal is feared by many to trigger a sharp spike in global coal prices.
Meanwhile, a statement from the Press Information Bureau states that during the month of April, 2022 India’s total coal production stood at 661.54 lakh tons.
While Coal India Ltd (CIL) and its subsidiaries produced 534.7 lakh ton coal, production by Singareni Colleries Company Ltd (SCCL) stood at 53.23 lakh ton and production from captive mines touched 73.61 lakh ton during last month.
Despite such high productions locally, the need for coal to supply power to the States remain huge. The Indian Express stated on Tuesday that peak power demand is expected to set a record high of 215-220 Gw in May-June. The low stock could signal a worse crisis in September –October when monsoon makes production and transportation of stock difficult.