Lok Sabha Question No. 1939 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-14
Subject: Availability of Coal Stock
Ministry: POWER
Asked by: Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh, Dinesh Chandra Yadav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1939

## ANSWERED ON 14.12.2023

## AVAILABILITY OF COAL STOCK

†1939. SHRI RAJIV RANJAN SINGH ALIAS LALAN SINGH: SHRI DINESH CHANDRA YADAV:

Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Union Government  has  made  mandatory  for the State Governments  to  keep  some  part  of  the  imported  coal  to  ensure  the  stock availability of coal for operation of their power plants;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  State  Governments  have  to  purchase  coal  even  at  higher prices through private suppliers to maintain the said arrangement;
- (d) if so, whether the State Governments are facing more financial burden for the same; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## A N S W E R

THE MINISTER OF POWER AND NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY

(SHRI R.K. SINGH)

- (a) to (e) : The  coal  stocking  norms  of  Central  Electricity  Authority  mandate Thermal  Power Plants to  maintain coal stock of 20  to  26  days  in  non-pithead plants and 12 to 17 days in pithead plants based on their requirements of 85% Plant Load factor(PLF) with seasonal variation in supply/consumption pattern.

Coal, whether domestic or imported, is procured by Thermal Power Plants separately and as per their requirements. There are some  plants  based exclusively on imported coal. Thermal Power Plants have been importing coal for blending purpose from 2009 onwards. Detail is at Annexure.

With increase in electricity demand from July'21 onwards the consumption of coal in Thermal Power Plants increased and the supply of domestic coal on a daily basis was less than consumption which resulted in depletion of coal stock and  stocks  at  Plants  end  came  down  from  28.7  Million  Tonnes  (MT)  as  on 30.06.2021  to  about  8.1  Million  Tonnes  (MT)  as  on  30.09.2021.  Therefore,  in December 2021, Ministry of Power advised State GENCOs and IPPs to import @4% and Central GENCOs @10%  of their requirements during 2022-23. During April-Sep' 2022 (QI, Q2 of FY 2022-23) the receipt of domestic coal was about 355 MT against the consumption of 385 MT (Dom: 359 MT +Imp: 1.4 x 18.9 MT) - a shortage of 30 million tonnes. The gap between supply of domestic coal and consumption of coal was about 1.6 lakh tonnes/ day during this period. On  the  improvement  of  the  situation,  Ministry  of  Power  advised  GENCOs  on 01.08.2022 to take decision regarding blending at their level taking into account the  domestic  coal  supply  and  stock  position (need  based  blending) with continuous monitoring of stock levels. The gap between daily coal consumption and daily arrival of domestic coal ranged  between 2.65  Lakh Tonnes  to  0.5  Lakh  Tonnes  between  the  months  of September'2022 and January'2023. If the imports for blending had not been made, the  coal  stocks  in  thermal  power  plants  would  have  reduced  to  ZERO  in September'2022 and would have continued so, leading to widespread power cuts and blackouts. Therefore, Ministry of Power advised Central, State Gencos and Independent Power Producers (IPPs) on 09.01.2023 to import coal @ 6% by weight so as to have sufficient coal stocks at their power plants for smooth operations till September' 2023. The gap between daily coal consumption and daily arrival of domestic coal increased from 1.30 lakh tonnes per day to 2.80 lakh tonnes per day between the month of June' 2023 and September' 2023. Therefore, Ministry of Power advised central  &  state  Gencos  and  IPPs  on  01.09.2023  and  25.10.2023  to  import  coal through a transparent competitive procurement process for blending. The cost of generation of electricity is dependent upon share of imported coal used  and  price  of  imported  coal.  The  pricing  of  imported  coal  is  linked  with international indices for imported coal, sources of origin, other factors like ocean freight,  insurance  etc  which  is  purely  dynamic  and  varies  with  international conditions.  Also,  imported  coal  has  high  calorific  value  compared  to  domestic coal. Cost of fuel including that of imported coal is passed into generation tariff in accordance  with  regulations  laid  down  by  appropriate      Electricity  Regulatory Commission.  The  generation  tariff  becomes  input  for  determination  of  retail consumer tariff, which is again approved by the respective Regulatory Commission before it is passed on to the consumers.  The regulator lays down norms for various input costs and does not allow costs in excess of the norms to be passed through.

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ANNEXURE ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1939 ANSWERED IN THE LOK SABHA ON 14.12.2023 **************

| Import of coal by power sector   | Import of coal by power sector   | Import of coal by power sector       | Import of coal by power sector   |
|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|--------------------------------------|----------------------------------|
| Fig in Million Tonnes            | Fig in Million Tonnes            | Fig in Million Tonnes                | Fig in Million Tonnes            |
| Year                             | Import for Blending              | Import by Imported coal based plants | Total Import                     |
| 2009-10                          | 18.8                             | 4.4                                  | 23.2                             |
| 2010-11                          | 21.1                             | 9.4                                  | 30.5                             |
| 2011-12                          | 27.3                             | 17.6                                 | 44.9                             |
| 2012-13                          | 31.1                             | 31.6                                 | 62.7                             |
| 2013-14                          | 38.6                             | 40.9                                 | 79.5                             |
| 2014-15                          | 47.6                             | 42.5                                 | 90.1                             |
| 2015-16                          | 37.1                             | 44.0                                 | 81.1                             |
| 2016-17                          | 19.8                             | 46.3                                 | 66.1                             |
| 2017-18                          | 17.0                             | 39.4                                 | 56.4                             |
| 2018-19                          | 21.4                             | 40.3                                 | 61.7                             |
| 2019-20                          | 23.8                             | 45.5                                 | 69.3                             |
| 2020-21                          | 10.4                             | 35.1                                 | 45.5                             |
| 2021-22                          | 8.1                              | 18.9                                 | 27.0                             |
| 2022-23                          | 35.1                             | 20.5                                 | 55.6                             |
| 2023-24 (Apr-Oct)                | 13.6                             | 21.7                                 | 35.3                             |

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