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The outstanding dues of State-run Coal India (CIL) from the Power sector rose 10 per cent on a month-on-month basis to ₹15,252.45 crore crore at the end of June 2022 from ₹13,825.20 crore in May.
During June, CIL’s coal production rose 29 per cent year-on-year to 51.56 million tonnes (MT), while the cumulative output for April, May and June stood at 159.75 MT, which is higher on an annual basis by 29 per cent.
With the country facing shortage of coal, largely on account of significant decline in imports and higher demand for electricity, the coal off-take rose 15 per cent year-on-year to 58.98 MT, whereas during April-June, the total off-take grew 10.7 per cent to 177.59 MT on an annual basis.
The despatch of coal from CIL also was higher by 26.5 per cent year-on-year at 51.09 MT last month. During April-June, the cumulative despatch of the dry fuel rose 19.2 per cent year-on-year to 152.49 MT.
The production of 622.63 MT of coal by CIL during FY22 is the highest ever. Production for FY22 represents an increase of 26.41 MT, which is 4.4 per cent growth over the previous year’s 596.22 MT.
Price unchanged
CIL has not only ensured continuous supply of coal to meet the increased demand, but also maintained a constant cheaper price. In December 2020, the price of imported coal (G8 grade) was around ₹4,200 per tonne, which rose to around ₹13,715 a tonne in April 2022. Against this, the price at which CIL is supplying coal is ₹1,475 tonne. This price is constant from December 2020, till date, Coal Ministry said.
CIL’s average cost of production is ₹1,310.88 per tonne.
Dues declined in FY22
FY22 began with the Power sector’s dues declining 4 per cent to ₹20,837.62 crore at the end of April 2021 compared to March. During FY22, the dues declined consistently.
They fell to ₹16,028.41 crore at the end of September 2021 from the April 2021 numbers. The dues at the end of October fell to ₹14,598.58 crore after which they rose to ₹15,243.36 crore in November 2021. They declined consistently during December 2021 (15,088.42 crore), January 2022 (15,097.01 crore), February 2022 (15,037.32 crore) and March (12,272.41crore).
The lowest dues in the past several years were recorded at the end of March 2019 at ₹8,435.19 crore.
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