Coal India (CIL) stepped up coal supplies in the first half of FY27, with total offtake rising 7.6% year-on-year to 384.2 million tonne (MT) and despatches to the power sector increasing 6.1% to 302.8 MT, as the miner drew down pithead stocks and improved evacuation, the coal ministry said in a statement.
CIL supplied 27.2 MT more coal during April-September than the 357 MT supplied in the corresponding period of FY26. Power plants received 17.4 MT more than the 285.4 MT supplied a year earlier, accounting for nearly 79% of CIL’s total first-half offtake.
“The recent performance of CIL demonstrates a clear strengthening of this supply chain,” the ministry said, attributing the improvement to enhanced evacuation, better synchronisation of production and despatch, and the use of accumulated pithead stocks.
CIL liquidated 63 MT of pithead coal stocks during the first six months of FY27, supplementing supplies from current production.
The pace of growth accelerated in the second quarter. Total offtake increased 12.05% to 186.04 MT in Q2 from 166.04 MT a year earlier, while supplies to the power sector rose 11% to 148.20 MT from 133.50 MT.
In September, CIL’s overall coal supplies rose 12.5% to 61.20 MT from 54.40 MT in September 2025. Power-sector supplies increased 10.63% to 48.90 MT from 44.20 MT, an increase of 4.70 MT.
Power-sector despatches during September stood at around 48.99 MT, averaging 1.63 MT a day. The first seven days averaged about 1.51 MT a day, rising to around 1.59 MT during the last seven days.
Daily power-sector despatch stood at 1.74 MT, 1.79 MT and 1.71 MT on September 28-30, respectively. It remained elevated at 1.75 MT, 1.87 MT and 1.81 MT on October 1-3.
The increase in coal supplies coincided with higher electricity generation from domestic coal. Domestic coal-based generation rose 9.9% to 640.05 billion units (BU) during H1 FY27 from 582.5 BU a year earlier, an increase of about 57.5 BU.
“The most important test of a coal-supply system is ultimately its ability to support electricity generation,” the ministry said.
Power-sector requirements continue to be met primarily through fuel supply agreements and linkage mechanisms, while short-term requirements can be supported through other market-based channels.
The ministry said the focus now was to move beyond higher offtake towards “assured, predictable and quality-conscious coal supply”.
CIL currently has 46 CHP-silos with 432 MT of mechanised, closed-loop evacuation capacity. It is also considering additional CHP-silos at upcoming greenfield mines, alongside investments in First Mile Connectivity, rapid loading systems and digital monitoring.
