Domestic coal production up 2.06% in November

Overall coal production in India rose 2.06% in November when assessed with the comparable period last year, although it fell slightly short of the stipulated target for the month, according to provisional data from the Coal Ministry. Essential to note, power generated in November declined about 5.8% compared to the previous month (that is, October) owing to moderate climatic conditions reducing demand for appliances.

Production in November this year, inclusive of that from Coal India, Singareni Collieries Company Ltd and from captive mines and others, stood at 92.68 million tonnes (MT) compared to 90.81 MT in the same period last year. The stipulated target for the month was 97.18 MT.

Coal India accounted for 73.2% of the overall coal production in November.

Power sector accounted for the majority of the offtake in November at 66.83 MT, approximately 3.1% higher than the previous month.

Although poignant to note, collective offtake of industries as steel, cement, iron and captive power plants (CPP) during the same period took 18.8 MT of coal, which is about 20.4% higher than the previous month. More importantly though, its share in the overall offtake increased from 19.4% in October to about 22% in November.