Coal India (CIL) increased coal supplies to power plants during the first three days of October, maintaining the stronger distribution momentum recorded in September. Daily supplies to the power sector reached 1.75 mn tonnes (MT), 1.87 MT and 1.81 MT from 1 to 3 October, after registering 1.74 MT, 1.79 MT and 1.71 MT from 28 to 30 September, according to the coal ministry.

CIL’s supplies to the power sector rose 10.6 per cent year-on-year to 48.9 MT in September 2026, compared with 44.2 MT a year earlier. The increase amounted to 4.7 MT, while the company’s overall coal supplies grew 12.5 per cent to 61.2 MT during the month.

During the first six months of FY27, CIL supplied 302.8 MT to the power sector, up from 285.4 MT in the corresponding period of the previous year. The increase was 17.4 MT, or 6.1 per cent. Supplies during the second quarter rose 11 per cent to 148.2 MT from 133.5 MT a year earlier.

The company used 63 MT of accumulated pithead coal stocks during the first half of FY27 to support supplies. Overall coal offtake stood at 384.2 MT, up 7.6 per cent from 357 MT in the year-ago period, with nearly 79 per cent supplied to the power sector.

The increase in supplies coincided with domestic coal-based power generation rising to 640.05 bn units (BU) in the first half of FY27 from 582.5 BU a year earlier, a growth of about 9.9 per cent. The ministry attributed the improvement to enhanced evacuation, closer coordination between production and despatch, and the use of pithead inventories. CIL distributes coal mainly through fuel supply agreements and linkage mechanisms, while short-term requirements can be met through market-based channels. It has 46 coal handling plants-cum-silos with combined mechanised, closed-loop evacuation capacity of 432 MT and is considering further facilities at upcoming greenfield mines.