CIL which accounts for over 80 percent of the domestic fuel output, has been mandated by the government to replace at least 100 mt of imports with domestically-produced coal in the ongoing fiscal. The Centre had earlier asked power generating companies, including NTPC Ltd, Tata Power and Reliance Power, to reduce import of the dry fuel for blending purposes and replace it with domestic coal. The government has also given directions to target thermal coal import substitution, particularly when huge coal stock inventory is available in the country this year. State governments have been asked not to import coal and take domestic supply from CIL, which has the fuel in abundance. The country’s coal imports increased marginally by 3.2 percent to 242.97 mt in 2019-20.CIL’s sales fell 23.3 percent in May as utilities refrained from purchases amid record stockpiles and tepid demand because of a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Offtake by customers, such as power generators, fell to 39.95 mt in May, down 23.3 percent year on year, though that represented a slight improvement from the 25.5 percent fall in April. May production fell 11.3 percent to 41.43 mt, compared with a 10.9 percent fall the previous month. More than three quarters of the electricity generated in India is derived from coal, with CIL – the world’s largest coal miner – accounting for more than four fifths of India’s domestic production.
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