Lok Sabha Question No. 17 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-02
Subject: Problem faced by Coal Sector
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: A. Chellakumar, Behanan Benny

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 17 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.02.2022

## Problem faced by Coal Sector

## 17. DR. A. CHELLAKUMAR: SHRI BENNY BEHANAN:

## Will the Minister of Coal be pleased to state:

- (a): the salient problems being faced by the coal sector in India;
- (b):  whether  the  quality  of  domestic  coal  is  deteriorating  gradually  and becoming unfit for power generation; and
- (c): if so, the steps that Government plans to take in this regard given that India faced a low coal supply for generating electricity recently?

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

(a): The major challenges of supply of coal during the current fiscal 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  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 |                                                                                                4102 |                                                                              53.37 |                               0.65 |
| 2021-22 (Till Dec' 21) |                                                                  64.5 |                                                                                                4230 |                                                                              57.16 |                               0.65 |

(c): There  is  no  shortage  of  supply  of  coal  from  Coal  India  Limited  (CIL) sources, being the single largest supplier of domestic coal in India. CIL has provided coal supplies to the tune of 532.41 Million tonnes (MT) during the current  fiscal  (upto  26 th   January  '22),  in  comparison  to  last  year  same period figures of 453.98 MT achieving a growth of about 17%.

Moreover, in the current fiscal, against the pro-rated demand of 439.37 MT by  Central  Electricity  Authority  (CEA)  (upto  26 th   January  '22),  CIL  has supplied coal to the tune of 432.90 MT (upto 26th January'22) to the power sector,  thereby achieving a materialization of about 99% in comparison to last year same period figures of 351.57 Million tonnes, achieving a growth of 23% over last year same period.

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