Non-power consumers have booked 31.65 lakh tonnes in Coal India’s e-auction for them in November, which is 91 per cent of the offered quantity and much higher than the 6 lakh tonnes booked a year ago.

The strong response needs to be seen in the context of the public sector miner temporarily curtailing supply to the non-power players in October, while giving priority to the power companies.

The miner’s decision had affected consumers in aluminium, cement, paper and other sectors.

Coal India has offered 81.22 million tonnes (mt) during April-November 2021 to the non-power sector against 79.69mt in the same period last year, clocking 2 per cent growth, even after meeting an unprecedented demand from the power sector.

Officials said the miner was carrying close to 32mt stock and with production poised to grow in the fourth quarter, the miner will be ready to meet the needs of captive power producers.

Stock levels to the power plants are also improving: from 7.24mt on October 8 to 18.84mt on December 7.