Coal demand for power projects to rise to 567 mln tonnes: CEA

New Delhi: Demand for coal needed to fire thermal power projects is projected to rise to 567 million tonnes in the current financial year. Plants designed to use domestic coal may require 527 million tonnes of coal while those using imported coal need an estimated 40 million tonnes, according to the latest Central Electricity Authority figures.

The total coal available from domestic sources is likely to be 473 million tonnes, leaving a shortfall of 54 million tonnes. In the previous financial year, India consumed 498.3 million tonnes of coal against a target of 522 million tonnes, according to provisional figures from the CEA, the power sector planning body. Coal is used to fire about 59 per cent of the country's installed generation capacity. State-run Coal India may produce 405 million tonnes of the dry fuel, followed by Singareni Collieries Company Ltd, which will supply 35 million tonnes.

Captive coal mines allotted to the power sector are expected to produce 33 million tonnes. The government has set a target of generating 1,023 billion units of electricity in this financial year. The CEA estimates 859 billion units will be generated by thermal power projects, of which 784 billion units will come from coal-based plants and the remaining 75 billion from fuels such as lignite, naphtha, diesel and natural gas. The government hopes to achieve generation of 252 billion units in the April-June period, while the target for each of the subsequent quarters is 257 billion units. Thermal power's contribution in the previous financial year was 792 billion units.