As Power Demand Surges, Government Aims To Enhance Coal Output, Ensure Timely Supply

Government faces powerful job of enhancing coal manufacturing and making certain well timed provide to vegetation

As Government is battling to make sure sooner coal provide to energy vegetation so as to meet the surging demand which has accentuated because of prevailing warmth wave circumstances throughout the nation, the Coal Ministry has set itself an bold manufacturing goal of 700 million tonnes within the present monetary yr 2023-23, which may even guarantee satisfactory provide in future to the ability sector.

To increase output, Government has additionally been placing up on public sale coal blocks for industrial mining.

Coal Ministry had launched industrial public sale of coal in June 2020, nonetheless after virtually two years, out of the 292 mines supplied for public sale in 4 rounds, solely 42 mines have been efficiently auctioned in three rounds.

According to official sources, bids for fourth spherical of public sale have been opened on March 2, 2023, the place two or more bids have been obtained for five reserves whereas 6 coal mines fetched solely single bids.

With the industrial coal mining public sale course of having obtained a tepid response, the Government's intention of enhancing coal manufacturing by this route appears to have hit a roadblock.

Coal India too had seen an output of 478 million tonnes between April-January interval of 2021-22, regardless that it plans to take it to 700 million tonnes within the present fiscal.

Sources mentioned that although the Government has set a stiff manufacturing goal for Coal India for the present fiscal, the industrial coal public sale has not fetched the specified outcomes and along with all that is the rising demand for coal by energy utilities.

Compounding the state of affairs are the logistical points being confronted to move coal to energy vegetation.

All these elements pose a troublesome problem earlier than the Government, which in the present day pressured Power Minister R Okay Singh and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to brainstorm over resolving the logistical problem of supplying coal sooner to energy vegetation.