Coal India has reported a big rise in despatches to its non-power consumers in the third quarter even as it reported a meagre increase in its despatches to the power sector.

During the quarter ended December, CIL supplied a total of 154.6 million tonnes (mt) to its consumers posting a 9.2 per cent growth over the corresponding year-ago period.

In the third quarter of the previous year, coal supply was 141.6mt. Coal supply to non-power consumers was 36.62mt compared with 25.53mt during the year ago period.

Offtake from the power sector during the quarter was 117.8mt against 116.07mt previous year.

“With the non-power sector consumers lifting increased quantities of coal during this year’s Q3 (third quarter), CIL could record a robust 43.4 per cent growth in supplies to this sector. The incremental supply to this sector was a little over 11mt.

“The demand for coal from the power sector is yet to crystallize fully,” a senior official of the company said.

There was only a nominal growth of 1.5 per cent in supplies to the power plants during the third quarter, the official added.

Total coal stock at the 136 power stations tracked by the Central Electricity Authority stood at a level covering requirement for 21 days as of December 31, 2020.

Coal India also said that overburden removal, a key efficiency parameter in mining, grew by 17.6 per cent during the third quarter compared with the previous year.