Coal dispatch likely to touch one billion tonne this year

It is expected that this year’s dispatch of coal would exceed the one billion tonne mark.

The Coal Ministry has set a target to produce and dispatch 1012 million tonnes (MT) of coal to consumers in the financial year 2023-24. Achieving record high performance, the Ministry has been able to dispatch 500 MT coal as on 17th October 2023. Dispatch of 500 MT of coal in 200 days, despite monsoon season, in the first half of the year, is an outstanding achievement.

During the second half of the year, the rate of production and dispatch is normally higher than in the first half of the year. It is, therefore, expected that this year’s dispatch of coal would exceed the one billion tonne mark. During the last financial year, a 500 MT coal dispatch milestone was achieved as on 9th November 2022. Thus, during the current year, the 500 MT dispatch mark has been achieved 23 days in advance.

It is to be noted that out of 500 MT of dispatch, 416.57 MT dispatch is for the power sector and 84.77MT is for the non-regulatory sector. The growth of coal transport to the power sector year to year is 7.27 per cent and the growth to the non-regulated sector year to year is 38.02%. Last year as on 31st March 2023, 893.19 million tonnes were dispatched.

It is to be highlighted that Coal India Ltd (CIL), Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL), and Captive/ Commercial mines all have contributed to this historical achievement of the Coal Ministry.