Coal stocks at the country’s thermal plants are improving after a rough month, with many states resorting to load shedding as the plants ran out of fuel.
While coal stocks are improving, the lack of plants has only emphasized the fuel’s importance in the power sector, even as the country moves to increase the share of renewable energy in its electricity mix. Is.
As the economy recovers from the pandemic, electricity demand has risen sharply above pre-pandemic levels, forcing coal-fired plants to ramp up production and meet rising demand.
Supply-side factors including prolonged monsoon and high global coal prices put further pressure on these plants. While the government has said that the stocks in Coal India Limited (CIL), a monopoly supplier of coal, are sufficient to meet the demand, CIL’s annual production has gone up from 606 million tonnes (MT) in FY19 to 602 million tonnes in the last few years. has remained stable. 596 million tonnes in FY20 and in FY21.
Considering its plan to reach 1 billion tonnes of coal production by FY24 citing low offtake issues, CIL has moved to diversify its business into other sectors including renewable energy and fertilisers.
How can we avoid a recurrence of coal shortage? Can the government’s increasing emphasis on renewable energy put a financial strain on thermal power generation companies? What will be the role of coal in India’s power mix going forward?
Indian Express Partha Sarathi Bhattacharya, former Chairman and Managing Director, Coal India, has been invited to answer some of these important questions.
As CMD, he oversaw the historic IPO of Coal India in 2010 – which is still the largest IPO of an Indian company. CIL’s performance improved during his tenure, with profit increasing from Rs 1,711.7 crore in FY 2006 to Rs 3,779.9 crore in FY 2011. He also led the turnaround in CIL’s subsidiary Bharat Coking Coal Ltd, which made profits for the first time in FY 2006.
Explained. A unique series of live explanatory talks hosted by The Indian Express.
On Friday, Bhattacharya will speak to Karunjit Singh, senior correspondent of The Indian Express.
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