Coal India allays deficiency fears even as power demand picks up
Times of India | 28 February 2026
Kolkata: Coal India has allayed fears of deficiency in domestic coal reserves amid rising power demand that could lead to increase in coal demand.
Coal India's producing subsidiaries are holding sizeable pithead coal stock to the tune of 115 million tonne (MTs) as of Feb 26, 2026, which will further go up by the fiscal's closure. Last year, during the same period, the pithead stock was 90 million tonne.
CIL stated that the three-layer buffer across the supply chain — coal inventory at CIL's pitheads, coal stocks at thermal power plants, and ready-to-extract in-situ coal exposure in CIL's mines — assures comfortable coal availability as summer begins.
According to the coal behemoth, coal stocks at domestic coal-based power plants stand at nearly 55 MT (as of Feb 25), the highest ever for the referred period. Further, there is a transit stock of 5.5 MT coal at goods sheds, washeries and ports put together.
"The on-tap coal accessibility is approximately 175.5 MT through these sources. This level of domestic coal sufficiency in the system can meet any spurt in power demand and from other sectors as well, and dispels coal scarcity concerns," an official said.
It added that the in-situ coal exposure, at mines that contribute to 90% of CIL's total annual output, was 60.2 MT at the end of the first fortnight of Feb. It means large quantities of coal are already uncovered through overburden removal and are ready for extraction and supply at short notice.