The power sector increased its coal imports from the April to October period of the 2022-2023 fiscal to nearly 39 million tonnes (MT), according to information provided to Parliament on Wednesday.
In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said, "As against the total import of 27 MT by power sector in the entire year of 2021-22, the import of coal by power sector in the first seven months increased to 38.84 MT."
The restoration of power output by imported coal-based plants to its potential level has been gradual, albeit a large portion of the surge in import has gone to feed domestic coal-based plants, the minister said.
In accordance with the existing import policy, coal is maintained under open general license, and customers are allowed to import coal as per their contractual rates from any source with payment of applicable duty. In this situation, the Centre makes no interventions.
However, on April 28, the Power Ministry advised power plants to import 10 percent of their total coal requirements for blending purposes to maintain a steady supply of electricity in their respective states.
This decision was then reconsidered, and on August 1 it was decided that going forward, states/independent power producers and the Coal Ministry may set the blending percentage after assessing the availability of domestic fossil fuel supplies.
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