State-owned CIL allocated 27.14 million tonne coal to the power sector under special forward e-auction mechanism last fiscal, registering a decline of six per cent from the previous year. According to the latest monthly report by the coal ministry prepared for the Cabinet, Coal India (CIL) allocated 28.93 MT of the dry fuel to the sector in 2017-18. In March 2019, the allocation stood at 1.12 MT in comparison to nil in the year-ago period.
Recently, a World Bank report said India is still facing challenges to meet its growing demand for power and reliable supply remains low in the country. Last year, CIL said it would put on offer a little over 45 MT coal under the special forward e-auction mechanism in 2018-19.
In an attempt to reach out to its consumers, CIL had earlier announced a special forward e-auction calendar for 2018-19 to facilitate power plants to systematically plan the lifting of coal. Coal India accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output. The PSU produced 606.9 MT coal in 2018-19 against 567.4 MT in 2017-18.
