Domestic coal production in December rose nearly 3. 6% on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, exceeding the target for the month, as monsoon-related disruptions eased. However, on a financial year (FY) basis till December end, coal production declined marginally as prolonged monsoon last year affected production, according to provisional government data for the month.

India produced 101. 45 million tonnes (MT) of coal in December, 3. 6% higher than the 97.

94 MT produced in the comparable period a year earlier. This includes production from state-run Coal India and its subsidiaries, Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) and captive mines and others.

The production target for the month was 87. 06 metric tons.

In the current fiscal year till December, India produced 721. 65 metric tonnes of coal, 0.

64% lower than the comparable period last year. Total coal dispatch in December also declined by 2.

64% from the comparable period last year. This is mainly due to a decline of about 7% in offtake in the power sector during the reported period.

However it is important to note, electricity generated from conventional fossil resources expanded by 4. 42%.

Its share in electricity produced during the month was about 74%. Electricity demand traditionally increases in December as the country reaches the peak of winter and usage of heating appliances increases.

Analysts attribute this pattern to the abundance of coal reserves. Niladri N. , Partner and Leader of Metals and Mining at Grant Thornton India.

According to Bhattacharjee, coal stock has increased in the entire system, i. e.

power plant coal yards and mine pitheads, between March 31 and December 31 last year. “With the increase in coal production from captive and commercial coal mines, the coal inventory position in the country is comfortable. As such, it is difficult to correlate thermal power generation with coal off-take,” he told The Hindu.