Coal India Limited allays coal shortage fears, says 168 MT buffer available to meet rising demand

State-owned Coal India Limited (CIL) on Tuesday (May 26, 2026) allayed fears of coal shortage, saying it has built up a buffer of 168 million tonnes (MT) to meet increased demand during the summer season.

The company said it has an adequate quantity to meet the generation capacity of domestic coal-based plants, even as daily consumption of the dry fuel by thermal power plants soared.

In a statement, the Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) said its coal stocks at domestic coal-based power plants stood at 47.6 million tonnes (MT) as on May 23, while inventory at the mine heads was at a comfortable 113.5 MT on May 24, up about 10% from the year-ago, adding that this level is sufficient to meet 19 days of consumption.

“Added to this, around three MT of coal is awaiting transit points such as goods sheds, private washeries and ports. Rakes on Run, that is, coal in transit at any point of time is around 4 MT, making a total of 168 MT of coal available in the system,” the statement said.

Compression of coal stock levels at coal-fired plants during peak summer is a natural occurrence rather than a supply-side crisis, the PSU said. Along with coal adequacy, there is around 50 million tonnes of in-situ mine coal on tap, ready for quicker extraction and supply if the demand necessitates.

Of the 21 plants categorised under criticality (as of May 20), 11 are domestic coal-based plants, of which seven source their coal from CIL. CIL has been corresponding with power plants to build up their stocks for peak demand periods in advance, when there is ample coal, especially in the case of the plants located at difficult logistic points.

Coal India accounts for over 80% of domestic coal output. India’s peak power demand hit a record high of 270.82 GW on Thursday (May 21, 2026), surpassing its previous record of 265.44 set on Wednesday (May 20, 2026), as the prevailing heat wave increased the use of cooling devices like air conditioners and desert coolers.

Last summer, the peak power demand was 242.77 GW, recorded in June, 2025, but stayed below the government’s estimate of 277 GW. In May 2024, the peak power demand reached 250 GW, a record at that time and exceeding the previous all-time peak of 243.27 GW set in September 2023.