Lok Sabha Question No. 2529 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-16
Subject: Problem faced by Coal Sector
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: Mimi Chakraborty

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2529 TO BE ANSWERED ON 16.03.2022

## Problem faced by Coal Sector

## 2529. MS. MIMI CHAKRABORTY:

Will the Minister of Coal be pleased to state:

- (a) the problems faced by the coal sector in India;
- (b) whether it is a fact that the quality of domestic coal is deteriorating gradually and becoming unfit for power generation therefor; and
- (c) if so, the steps taken by the Government to overcome the difficulties faced due to low coal supply for generating electricity recently; and
- (d)  the  details  of  export  and  quality  of  coal  during  the  last  five  years  used  for generation of power energy in the country?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS, COAL AND MINES (SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI)

- (a): The major challenges of coal sector in India are as under:
- i. Un-seasonal and extended Rainfall in the coal bearing areas.
- ii. Surge in Covid-19 cases/ State Lockdown during the second and third wave of Covid pandemic in India.
- iii. Non-Payment of commensurate Coal value along with huge outstanding dues by Power Sector consumers.
- iv. Frequent Labour/ Industrial Relation (IR) issues in the Coal fields.
- v. Land acquisition issues.

(b): The  grade  conformation  of  the  coal  supplies  to  power  utilities  by  CIL  and weighted average Gross Calorific Value (GCV) of coal during the last two years has improved as appended below. Besides, Plant Load Factor (PLF) of power plants has also increased during this period.

| Year                         |   Grade conformity in terms of dispatched coal to power utilities (%) |   Weighted average GCV of coal dispatched from CIL Subsidiaries to power utilities (GCV in Kcal/Kg) |   Plant Load Factor (PLF) of Thermal power plants as per Ministry of Power website |   Specific coal consumption (SPCC) |
|------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------|
| 2020-21                      |                                                                  62.8 |                                                                                                4115 |                                                                              53.37 |                               0.65 |
| 2021-22 (Till February,2022) |                                                                  65.4 |                                                                                                4226 |                                                                              57.47 |                               0.65 |

(c): The  following  action  has  been  taken  by  Government  to  further  enhance  the production and supply of coal in the country:

- i. Commercial  Auction  of  coal  on  revenue  share  mechanism: Auction  of commercial  mining  on  Revenue  Sharing  Mechanism  was  launched  on 18.06.2020 by Hon'ble Prime Minister. Under this scheme, total of 2 tranches have  been  successfully  completed  and  third  Tranche  is  currently  under process.  From  these  two  tranches  total  of  28  coal  mines  have  been successfully  auctioned  for  which  Vesting  order  have  in  signed  for  27  coal mines.
- ii. Allow sale of excess coal production :  The Ministry of Coal has amended Mineral Concession Rules, 1960 with a view to allowing sale of coal or lignite, on payment of additional amount, by the lessee of a captive mine up to 50 percent of the total coal or lignite produced in a financial year, after meeting the  requirement  of  the  end  use  plant  linked  with  the  mine.   The  Mines  and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act had been amended in 2021. This is applicable  for  both  the  private  and  public  sector  captive  mines.  With  this amendment, the Government has paved the way for releasing of additional coal in  the  market  by  greater  utilization  of  mining  capacities  of  captive  coal and  lignite  blocks,which  were  being  only  partly  utilized  owing  to  limited production of coal for meeting their captive needs.
- iii. Rolling auction : In order to expedite the process for conducting auction and to carryout more rounds of auction in a year, a mechanism of rolling auctions of coal mines has been planned. Under this mechanism, upon completion of the electronic auction process of a tranche, the next tranche of auction would be launched for following mines:

a.  Mines  where  no  bid  or  only  single  bid  was  received  in  the  previous tranche of auction (except for those mines where Ministry of Coal decides to go for second attempt of auction)

b .New mines, if any, identified by Ministry of Coal.

In the current III tranche of commercial auction, total of 48 coal mines have been rolled over from the II tranche of mines.

- iv. Single  Window  Clearance : The  Union  government  has  already  launched Single Window Clearance portal on 11.01.2021 for the coal sector to speed up the operationalisation of coal mines. It is an unified platform that facilitates grant of clearances and approvals required for starting a coal mine in India. Now,  the  complete  process  shall  be  facilitated  through  Single  Window Clearance Portal, which will map not only the relevant application formats, but also process flow for grant of approval or clearances.

Considering the increased demand as projected by the Ministry of Power, Coal India Limited (CIL) has already taken steps to augment the dispatch & build-up stock at power plants end which is as under:

- o CIL has planned to supply 565 Million Tonne (MT) during 2022-2023 to the power sector to meet the generation requirement of domestic coalbased power generators.
- o CIL  has  already  additionally  allocated  11.2  MT  of  coal  from  its  high stock  mines  through  RCR  mode  which  is  to  be  lifted  from  different Goods Shed/Private Washeries to build up stock at the plant end.
- o Railways  are  regularly  being  requested  to  give  priority  in  supply  of rakes to the power generators.
- o CIL has already started building stock at its railway sidings to facilitate adequate rake loading for power sector.
- (d) The details of export and quality of coal supplied during the last five years by CIL for generation of power energy in the country by  is as under:

| Year                   |   Coal Quantity Exported (In'000 tonne) | Weighted average GCV (in Kcal/Kg)/Grade of coal supplied by CIL to Power Sector(Provisional)   |
|------------------------|-----------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2017-2018              |                                   0     | 4233(G11)                                                                                      |
| 2018-2019              |                                   0     | 4287(G11)                                                                                      |
| 2019-2020              |                                   0.99  | 4287(G11)                                                                                      |
| 2020-2021              |                                   2.995 | 4115(G11)                                                                                      |
| 2021-2022 (28.02.2022) |                                   0     | 4226(G11)                                                                                      |

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