Offtake from Coal India Ltd (CIL) fell more than a fifth in April as the second wave of the pandemic left several contract workers battling the deadly infection.
The fuel offtake from India’s largest coal miner fell to 54.13 million tonnes (mt) last month as against a target of 68.89 mt.
This dip in offtake has led the coal ministry to closely monitor the situation to ensure availability of the fossil fuel at thermal plants across the country given coal is the mainstay of India’s power generation mix.
“It is true that some of the contractual workers involved in offtake were covid affected,” a Coal India official said in an emailed response.
