Lok Sabha Question No. 3289 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-23
Subject: Coal Supply to Power Plants
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: P.P. Chaudhary, Jagdambika Pal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3289 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.03.2022

## Coal Supply to Power Plants

## 3289. SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY: SHRI JAGDAMBIKA PAL:

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

- (a) whether there is any comprehensive data available to depict the dependence of Power Sector on coal for both locally produced coal and imported coal;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the latest data depicting the shortage in deliveries of coal to power plants;
- (c) whether there is an escalation in daily coal supply;
- (d) if so, the details thereof along with the steps taken by the government for this escalation; and
- (e) the manner in which the coal production has been hit by the severe flooding in India's eastern and central states during the monsoon season?

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

- (a): The share of coal in power generation of the country for the last 2 years and the current fiscal upto February'22 is as under:

## (Figures in Billion Units)

| Period            |   Total generation (Including Renewable) |   Coal Based Generation |   %of coal based generation v/s total generation |
|-------------------|------------------------------------------|-------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|
| 2018-19           |                                   1376.1 |                   987.7 |                                               72 |
| 2019-20           |                                   1389.1 |                   961.2 |                                               69 |
| 2020-21           |                                   1381.9 |                   950.9 |                                               69 |
| 2021-22 (Apr-Feb) |                                   1351.7 |                   938.3 |                                               69 |

Thus, the share of coal-based power generation in the total power generation is in the range of 69-72%.

- (b): The  details  of  coal  receipt  and  its  consumption  in  thermal  power  plants  during  last  3 years and current year 2021-22 (Apr- Feb) are as under:

## (Figures in Million Tonnes)

| Period            |   Coal Receipt |   Coal Consumption |
|-------------------|----------------|--------------------|
| 2018-19           |          643.7 |              628.9 |
| 2019-20           |          638.7 |              622.2 |
| 2020-21           |          596.3 |              615.4 |
| 2021-22 (Apr-Feb) |          629.3 |              631.5 |

During  2018-19  and  2019-20,  the  receipt  of  coal  was  more  than  consumption.  However, during 2020-21 and 2021-22 (Apr-Feb), the receipt was less than consumption as the power plants met their requirement from coal stock. Further, the coal stock available at the power plants  as  on  16.03.2022  is  about  26.3  MT  which  is  about  39% of  their  normative requirement.

(c): The  average  per  day  coal  supply  to  the  Thermal  Power  Plants  from  domestic  coal sources has gradually increased in the last few months. The daily domestic coal supply from CIL, SCCL and captive coal blocks  for the month of  December, January, February of this Financial  year  has  been  2.049  MT/day,  2.022  MT/day  and  2.135  MT/day  respectively (provisional).

(d): Following action has been taken by Government to 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.
- v. Coal  India  Ltd.  has  envisaged  a  coal  production  programme  of  one  Billion  Tonne from  CIL  mines.   CIL  has  taken  the  following  steps  to  achieve  the  target  of augmentation of coal production capacity:
1. 15  Projects  identified  with  a  Capacity  of  about  160  MTPA  (Million  Tonnes  per Annum) to be operated by Mine Developer cum Operator mode.
2. Capacity  addition  through  special  dispensation  in  Environment  Clearance  under clause 7(ii) of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) 2006
3. CIL  has  taken  steps  to  upgrade  the  mechanized  coal  transportation  and  loading system under 'First Mile Connectivity' projects.

(e): Raw  coal  production  of  subsidiaries  of  Coal  India  Limited  and  other  coal  mines  was affected by rain mainly in June'21 and Sept'21. The percentage growth of Coal India Limited as a whole for the months of June 2021 to September 2021 is given below:

| Month          |   %Growth as compared to same period of last year |
|----------------|---------------------------------------------------|
| June 2021      |                                               2   |
| July 2021      |                                              14   |
| August 2021    |                                              14.6 |
| September 2021 |                                               0.4 |

Thus,  the  production  was  more  severely  effected  in  the  months  of  June  and  September 2021. Further, about 0.55 MT coal production was also affected in SCCL due to extended rains in the months of October 2021 and cyclone in November 2021.

****