UltraTech is bringing in 157,000 tonnes of coal from Russian producer SUEK that loaded on the bulk carrier MV Mangas from the Russian Far East port of Vanino, the document showed. It cites an invoice dated June 5 that values the cargo at 172,652,900 yuan ($25.81 million).
Indian officials are rushing to make more coal available for utilities as shortages in the July-September quarter are forecast to be wider than initially estimated due to expectations of high power demand.
The online bids received as part of the auction process will be opened on Tuesday from 10 AM onwards in the presence of interested prospective bidders, coal ministry said in a statement.
A mistake repeated more than once is a choice. Policymakers have to decide whether they can keep repeating the past or is it time to choose big bold reforms to save the power sector and taxpayers’ money.
Countries, including India, should ensure that near-term reliance on coal does not come in the way of reducing global carbon footprint
According to Gurdeep Singh, Chairman and Managing Director of the state-run power company NTPC, coal-based energy generation is the backbone of the nation's power supply and would remain that way for the next 20 to 30 years.
India's top steelmaker Tata Steel (TISC.NS) imported about 75,000 tonnes of coal from Russia in the second half of May, two trade sources and one government source said, weeks after pledging to stop doing business with Russia.
Italy's Eni said it had been informed by Russia's Gazprom that it would receive only part of its request for gas supplies on Monday, pushing the country closer to declaring a state of alert that will spark gas saving measures.
Russia, facing severe Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, warned the European Union in April against sweeping sanctions on coal, saying they would backfire as the fuel would be redirected to other markets.
Even though the state-owned corporation Coal India Ltd has issued import tenders to source the dry fuel from overseas, India's coal imports are expected to drop by 11.4 percent to 186 million tonnes (MT) in the current fiscal year.
The latest directive from the Commission for Air Quality Management is a step in the right direction, but for it to be effective it cannot have double standards and give a free pass to thermal power plants
The state-run miner, which has little experience in importing coal, was asked to place orders for shipments from overseas by the power ministry last month.
The use of imported coal would increase the electricity tariff by 70 paise to one rupee per unit, says the All India Power Engineers Federation. The total additional cost burden on the states on account of imported coal would be in excess of Rs 24,000 crore.
However, the use of low-sulphur coal in thermal power plants has been exempted from the ban.
The minister says the state governments have now started importing coal, which has pushed India's reserve stock of coal back up to 20 million tonnes.
The government has recently mandated CIL to import coal as an emergency measure to avoid a shortage of coal for the country's power utilities and build up buffer stock.
Officials said due to severe shortage of power, the Railways has been forced to prioritise the movement of coal rakes over passenger services.
While the estimated production will be higher as compared to FY21, it will fall short of the initial target of 203.67 million tonnes.
The state gencos and independent power producers have sought time till Saturday afternoon to figure out the quantity of coal they require and the import orders would be placed by Coal India very soon, a source said.
Thirty five firms reported six percent rise in sales as net profit fell for the second quarter by 11 percent year on year but rose 72 percent sequentially.
Surging supply from renewables will go some way towards mitigating India's coal shortage amid extraordinarily rapid growth in demand, which has forced the country to reopen mines and return to importing the fuel.
Banks are even thinking about providing priority funding to power plants that are functional but some loans of the generating company have turned non-performing
India plans to reduce power generation from at least 81 coal-fired utilities over the next four years, the federal power ministry said in a letter on May 30, in an effort to replace expensive thermal generation with cheaper green energy sources.
Here’s a look at how coal would need to be eliminated from the energy mix in order to reach net zero goals by 2050, based on data provided by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The energy hungry nation expects the plan to reduce power generation by 58 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) from the 81 utilities to save 34.7 million tonnes of coal and cut carbon emissions by 60.2 million tonnes, the power ministry said.