On Thursday, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi told the media that the state-owned CIL has increased fuel supply to match the increased demand of the power sector and arrest shortages at thermal power plants created due to the soaring cost of imported coal. Coal generation and dispatch have now grown and they are providing nearly 2.2 million tonnes of coal per day to the power plants, which is itself a record, Joshi was quoted as saying in a statement by Coal India arm Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL). The minister examined the mining and despatch operations at MCL, to further improve fuel supplies to thermal power facilities. Joshi said that they are trying to further enhance coal production and dispatch from the firm. During his visit to Talcher coalfields, Joshi examined mining operations at Balram open cast project in the Hingula area and coal dispatch works through railway sidings. He conducted discussions with MCL and railway officials at the railway sidings. Both the ministers emphasised further decreasing the turn-around time of railway wagons. The ministers additionally interacted with the coal miners and motivated them for improving coal production and despatch. Additionally, best-performing workers were felicitated. On Tuesday, Joshi reviewed the coal production and emphasised continuing the drive to dispatch maximum dry fuel to thermal power facilities. Power Minister R K Singh said that there would be no power shortage in the nation amid the ongoing low coal stocks at power facilities. He emphasised timely payments by distribution firms to the plants for electricity provided to them. The minister had notified that power plants in the nation have over 8 million tonnes of coal presently. MCL accounts for around 25% of the total coal generation of Coal India. To further improve coal dispatch capacity and rapid movement of the dry fuel to consumers, the firm is aggressively executing first-mile connectivity projects with a capital outlay of Rs 3,600 crore by 2024. During the current financial year, MCL supplied more than 94 million tonnes of coal to consumers, recording an increase of about 21% over last year. Image Source  Also read: Coal India Limited prioritises coal supply for power plants