Coal India on Tuesday said it had sold (offtake) 55 million tonnes (mt) in May against 40 million tonnes a year ago, an increase of 38 per cent, spurred by a revival of demand from the power sector.

The PSU sold 44mt to the power plants last month, up 41 per cent over the year-ago period. Coal stock at the thermal power plants fell 5mt in April from 28.9mt in March because of the onset of summer and a higher demand for the fuel. The stock was restored to 29mt in May.

Data from the Central Electricity Authority show thermal power generation for the ongoing fiscal till May 20, 2021 at 162 trillion units, which were 3.54 per cent above the programmed generation for the period.

Generation was significantly affected in 2020-21, with actual output at 90.69 per cent of the programmed generation for the fiscal. The impact was more prominent in the first half as a country-wide lockdown put a pause on economic activity.

“Due to the Covid induced lockdown, coal supplies had suffered last year. But even then, a robust 30mt offtake upsurge during the first two months of the current fiscal year is an encouraging sign compared with April-May 2020. During this period, coal offtake to the power sector was higher by 23.6mt,” said a Coal India executive.

Total coal offtake for April-May was 109.1mt compared with 79mt in the same period a year ago. Supply to the power sector was 86.3mt compared with 62.7mt in the same period a year ago.

Coal India liquidated a total of 25mt of stocks in the first two months after the stock rose to 100mt at the start of the fiscal.

Coal India produced 84mt in the first two months of the fiscal year but the growth was a modest 2.6 per cent over previous year. Officials however said that keeping the stock level in mind, production can be ramped up even at a short notice when demand peaks to higher levels in the coming months.