The official said there are both challenges and opportunities for India as many of its competitor countries in exports, such as China Vietnam, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Thailand, face higher duties.
Coal India Limited's (CIL) October-December quarter of financial year 2023-24 (Q3FY24) results have beaten the Street's estimates. Revenue rose 3 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 36,200 crore, led by higher volumes and better realisation from Fuel-Supply Agreement (FSA) coal. The blended average selling price (ASP) was down 6 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 1,727 per tonne, and the FSA ASP was up 3 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 1,532 per tonne.
Here is a list of Q & As to explain these issues and implications of the US move.
JSPL, Tata Power, Monnet Power, Jindal Photo in the dock.
As Indian Railways looks to avert the crisis like last summer, preparations are under way to stock up coal at thermal power plants. Much like February and March, thermal coal movement in April was 5 per cent higher than the previous year, data from the Ministry of Railways shows. While India prepares for a hot summer this year, 48.23 million tonnes (mt) of coal for thermal power plants was ferried by Indian Railways in April. The national transporter also moved about 500,000 tonnes--18.4 per cent-- more imported coal for power plants this April than it had done last year.
India and the US have decided to hold sector-specific talks in the coming weeks to finalise the structure of the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA), the government said on Saturday. The engagement between the two countries came in the backdrop of the USA's threat to impose reciprocal tariffs on its key trading partners, including India, on April 2.
Ray of hope for power, metal companies.
Rising energy demand could tilt India's energy basket towards fossil fuels from coal to oil, natural gas.
Coal production by Coal India (CIL) has grown slower than the captive mines, awarded over the last six years. During 2020-22, production from the captive mines jumped by 38.5 per cent while CIL saw a tepid growth of 3.4 per cent, according to government data. In terms of dispatch to the power sector, captive mines have raced ahead, witnessing a growth of 72 per cent compared to 15 per cent for CIL. For the current fiscal year, CIL's production is expected to be around 565 million tonnes.
The Union ministry of coal, while acknowledging that domestic coal stock is not enough to meet the power demand, asked state governments and the power generating companies (gencos) to import coal before monsoon season sets in. The ministry has warned the gencos if they do not import coal for 10 per cent blending in their fuel demand by the end of this month, blending benchmark would be increased to 15 per cent. The order pertains to all - central, state and independent power producers (IPPs)/privately owned units.
The coal ministry is likely to begin next week issuing deallocation letters to private firms whose mines were cancelled and those where bank guarantees were deducted for sitting idle on mines given to them for captive use, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal on Monday said.
The National Informatics Centre uses AI to automate document analysis and detect fraud in government departments.
The government on Thursday said it has cancelled the auction of Tamil Nadu's Nayakkarpatti tungsten mineral block which is near the Arittapatti Biodiversity site and a number of cultural heritage sites. Tungsten is a critical and strategic mineral.
Having set an ambitious target for capacity addition, the power ministry on Monday sought to push ahead with the agenda seeking regulators for coal and petroleum sectors even as it criticised public sector power companies
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has strongly opposed the central government's award of tungsten mining rights in Madurai district, urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cancel the decision. Citing concerns about a biodiversity heritage site and potential impacts on local communities, Stalin asserted that the state government will not permit mining in the area.
India is unlikely to see a repeat of the 2021 energy crisis this festive season as coal-fired power stations across the country have comfortable levels of the fuel stock to meet electricity demand of the world's fastest expanding major economy.
"The coal ministry intends to purchase the house and build a memorial on it," minister of state for coal Shriprakash Jaiswal told PTI, adding directions have been given to the officials of the ministry to purchase the house 'at any cost.' The minister said he, along with officials of Coal India Limited, will be visiting South Africa on August 17 in this connection.
Companies say the viability of 13,000 megawatts worth of projects, which have fixed power sale tariffs, hinge on the government decision.
There is good news for coal mine developers who want to go in for expansion. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), in its new notification, said the developers that had already bagged environment clearance for their existing projects might be exempted from the stipulated public hearings for obtaining clearances for their expansion projects, provided they met certain criteria specified by the ministry.
India and the United States will finalize the contours, schedule of negotiations, and terms of reference for a proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) during a three-day meeting beginning Tuesday. The agreement is expected to be finalized in two tranches, with the first phase focusing on goods trade. The US team, led by Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch, will be in India from March 25-29 to discuss the agreement. Both countries are aiming to conclude the first phase of the agreement by fall 2025.
A Delhi court on Monday awarded three-year jail term to former coal secretary H C Gupta in a coal scam case related to irregularities in the allocation of a coal block in Maharashtra, a lawyer associated with the case said.
The court will pronounce the order on quantum of sentence on May 22.
After the Union comptroller and auditor-general saying there'd been a loss of Rs 10.67 lakh crore in allotment of coal blocks, the draft Request For Proposal (RFP) for new allocations has strong clauses for cancellation for breaches on this count.
Adani Enterprises has emerged as the lowest bidder in Coal India's tender for imports of the dry fuel with quoting over Rs 4,000 crore for supply of 2.416 million tonne, even though the miner is likely to "negotiate the price", an official said on Monday. A negotiation for the quoted price may take place as the gap between the lowest bid value and the miner's own estimates of Rs 3,100 crore is in excess of around 30 per cent, he said. "Adani's bid is the lowest but it is Rs 900 crore more than the Coal India's own estimate.
K Chandrasekhar Rao gets labour and employment portfolio; Sisram Ola given mines.\n\n
The Coal Ministry has decided to constitute a six-member panel for valuation and assessment of the 42 running coal blocks which were deallocated by the Supreme Court.
Bangladesh has sought revision of a 2017 power purchase agreement with Adani Power Ltd as the price for the coal-generated electricity appeared too expensive, officials said in Dhaka on Thursday. "We have communicated with the Indian company seeking revision of the agreement," an official of the state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDC) told PTI on the condition of anonymity and without elaborating on the matter. Media reports suggested that the "high coal price" to be purchased for the Adani plant at India's Jharkhand emerged as the key factor for the dispute.
Coal shortage crisis at thermal power projects does not seem to abate very soon as the number of non-pit head plants with less than four days of dry fuel stock (supercritical stock) has increased to 70 this Sunday compared to 64 a week ago on October 3, as per government data. According to the latest coal stock data of the 135 plants with over 165 GW of installed generation capacity monitored by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), as many 70 plants are categorised as supercritical stock or having less than four days of fuel on October 10, 2021, compared to 64 a week ago on October 3, 2021. The data also showed that the number of non-pit head plants having less than seven days of fuel (critical stock) has also increased to 26 on Sunday from 25 such projects a week ago on October 3, 2021.
India always faces a Hobson's choice as far as feeding coal-fired generators goes - even if the government is reluctant to admit it. The country cannot do without shipping in the world's most polluting fuel from overseas. And it will continue to do so unless it decides to reduce demand by forcing citizens, farmers and businesses to live without electricity for part of the day, or use diesel generators to fire facilities.
The ministry of railways has dropped its proposal for monetisation of stations on public-private partnership mode, and projects are now being taken up under engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode, a source said. The source also told PTI that the ministry of railways has been asked to expedite monetisation of other assets, including trains, goodsheds, hill rail, stadiums, railway colonies and railway land parcels among others. "Largest asset class (stations) dropped. Stations earlier proposed on PPP mode are now being taken up under EPC mode," the source said.
State-owned CIL on Thursday said that it has floated its maiden tender to import 2.416 million tonnes of coal to ensure adequate supply of the fuel to power plants in the country. The development assumes significance in the wake of the government making all efforts to build up stock of coal to avoid the reoccurrence of power outages which happened in April on account of shortage of the fossil fuel. "In a first ever, Coal India Limited (CIL) on Wednesday floated an international competitive bidding e-tender, seeking bids for import of 2.416 million tonnes (MTs) of coal," the company said in a statement.
India's jugalbandhi with coal and clean energy is coming unstuck, neither achieving adequate renewable generation nor ensuring sufficient coal-fired power in the quest to become a $5-trillion economy. Six months have elapsed since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ambitious climate agenda for India at COP26 at Glasgow. The net zero emissions target by 2070 is a distant one, but there are nearer-term plans to meet 50 per cent of energy demand with renewables by 2030 by increasing capacity to 450 Gw. A cursory look at the balance sheet of India's climate progress since November reveals ponderous progress towards meeting the renewables target even as the country is scrambling to expand coal-fired generation in the face of a power crisis.
Among the new entrants to the Union cabinet, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been given the agriculture and rural development portfolios, Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda the health portfolio and former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar the power portfolio.
Currently, 23 power units with a cumulative capacity of 30,000 MW have super critical coal stock situation A lack of synchronised approach between the concerned ministries and power plants, has led to this crisis, says Shreya Jai.
As India's electricity demand soars, the power ministry on Tuesday reviewed the power supply situation to ensure 'zero load shedding' during the summer months. The ministry has drafted plans ranging from delaying planned maintenance of thermal power stations to mandatory operations of imported coal-based and gas-based stations till September. In a series of meetings with industry stakeholders, Union Minister for Power, New, and Renewable Energy R K Singh emphasised the importance of adequate planning to avoid situations where one state has surplus power while another state faces shortages.
Key infrastructure sectors -- from railways to power, and from coal to petroleum -- will not only be part of the achievements but promises too, as the BJP fights to get a third term at the Centre.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
Amid rising demand for coal freight and an aggressive push towards diversifying its freight basket, Indian Railways is planning to buy 100,000 more wagons over the next three fiscal years. The procurement plan will majorly comprise BOXN wagons, which are used to transport coal, said a senior Ministry of Railways official. Notably, the railways recently floated a sizeable tender worth Rs 35,000 crore of wagons, which had been in the pipeline since 2018. "Our Budget Estimates for freight increase were conservative.
'The day I took charge, the PM told me you do the following -- stop imports, talk to all stakeholders and involve them to make mining more industry-friendly without affecting the environment.'
Centre plans to acquire land and then give it on lease to miners.
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