India's domestic thermal power plants (TPPs) have utilised approximately 35 million tons (MT) of imported coal since the government mandated the blending of imported coal to the extent of 6 percent of their requirement, according to senior officials in the power ministry. However, power generation companies (gencos) have only been able to blend 3 percent of their coal requirement, falling short of the mandated 6 percent.
The blending of imported coal has helped save about 46-48 MT of domestic coal and has played a crucial role in meeting the country's peak demand, which reached a record high of 221.34 gigawatts (GW) on May 23. Additionally, it has contributed to meeting the high demand during non-solar hours, particularly at night.
To avoid a recurrence of the coal crisis experienced last year, the government issued an order on January 9, 2023, requiring all gencos to use imported coal to the extent of 6 percent of their requirement. This mandate will remain in effect until September this year. Gencos failing to comply with the directive face restrictions on a pro-rata basis, as per the order.
In the previous year, India's power sector imported 38.84 MT of coal between April and October 2023. This year, gencos have already imported at least 35 MT of coal within just five months. In the entire year of 2021-22, the power sector imported a total of 27 MT of coal.
Currently, the coal stock situation at the country's power plants remains manageable, with at least 35 MT of coal stocked at thermal power plants. As of June 4, 30 out of the 165 domestic coal-based thermal power plants had critical stocks. This number is significantly lower than the corresponding period last year when there were 96 or more such plants with critical stocks.
Blending imported coal has helped maintain the thermal power plants' stocks at a safer level. Without the mandate, the stocks would have been at a precarious low. It is worth noting that the entire 35 MT of imported coal has been utilized by domestic coal-based power plants such as NTPC, DVC, and state-owned ones.
Most of the imported coal, approximately 35 MT, comes from orders that were placed but put on hold due to the absence of any mandate. These orders were later revived by state and central gencos following the power ministry's January 9 order.
Fresh orders for imported coal received from April 1 to June 4 amount to 4.91 MT, of which 2.5 MT has been consumed thus far, as per the available data.
Data specifically related to imported coal-based (ICB) plants was not available as it is maintained separately. However, officials stated that the usage of imported coal by ICB plants is much lower compared to domestic coal-based (DCB) plants since there are only around 15 ICB plants in contrast to 165 DCB plants.
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