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NEW DELHI: Domestic thermal power plants currently have enough coal stocks to generate electricity for about 21 days, the ministry of coal said on Monday, adding that India recorded its highest-ever coal production of nearly 1,048 million tonnes (MT) in the 2024–25 financial year.In a statement, the ministry said that as of Dec 31, total coal stocks at domestic coal-based thermal power plants were estimated at nearly 50.3 MT, over 17% higher than the nearly 43 MT of stocks available on the last day of 2024. India’s thermal power plants had faced severe coal shortage in 2021–22, when fuel stocks at several stations fell to an average of nearly four days. The normative stock ideally required to comfortably operate power plants at an 85% load factor is estimated at 20–23 days.There are about 188 thermal power plants in the country, with an installed capacity of nearly 220 gigawatts.The ministry said thermal power plant stocks crossed the 50 MT-mark on Nov 22, around 80 days earlier than in the previous financial year, when this level was reached on Feb 9. Coal production in the 2024–25 fiscal year was nearly 5% higher than the 998 MT recorded in the previous financial year. The calendar year 2025 saw total coal production of about 1,043 MT. “Abundant and uninterrupted supply of coal to the power sector has led to a reduction in imported coal blending by 54.2% over the last year. Coal imported for blending up to Dec 25 stood at just 5.5 MT, compared with 12 MT in the previous calendar year,” it said.With increased domestic coal production, coal imports during the first nine months of 2024–25 fell by 7.9% to 243.6 MT, compared with 264.6 MT in the same period of the previous fiscal year. This reduction resulted in foreign exchange savings of about $7.9 billion.
