Coal shortfall pegged at 269 mt by 2021-22

Shortfall in coal supply may touch 269 million tonnes by 2021-22, from the current level of around 80 million tonnes as domestic producers fail to keep up with the growing demand for the commodity.

The demand for coal in 2021-22 is projected to be around 1,353 million tonnes as against the production assessment of 1,084 million tonnes, resulting in a shortfall of 269 million tonnes, said the Coal Minister, Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal, on Wednesday.

“In view of the widening demand-supply gap of coal, the country is unlikely to become self-reliant in meeting the demand of coal indigenously in the near future,” Mr Jaiswal told the Lok Sabha.

Demand for coal, driven by the rapid capacity addition in the power sector, is growing at around 9-10 per cent a year, whereas coal production is growing at around 7 per cent.

“We are trying to adopt different technologies which are more efficient in coal usage to meet the demand,” Mr Jaiswal said.

For fiscal 2011-12, the demand for coal is estimated to be around 696.03 million tonnes, while the projected production is around 554 million tonnes.

However, 5 million tonnes of coal stocks are proposed to be liquidated by Coal India Ltd thus bringing down the gap to 137 million tonnes, said Mr Pratik Prakashbapu Patil, Minister of State for Coal, in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

The gap will have to be met through imports.