India’s coal stocks breached 100 million tonne (mt) as power demand weakened, leading to lower coal sales since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
Coal India officials said the company continues to produce around 2.5 mt of coal daily, but less than 2 mt was dispatched to the power sector in the past 15 days which led stocks to pile up drastically in its pitheads.
While the coal stocks in the Maharatna company peaked to around 60 mt, coal stocks in power plants rose to 41.41 mt – the highest ever inventory level in the country till date.
Despite the overstock situation, coal output had peaked to a new high of 3.17 mt on 20 March 2020 – the highest ever single day production so far – overtaking the 3.14 mt production recorded on 25 March 2020.
