COORDINATION PAYS OFF, COAL PRODUCTION RISES

power utilities too fell by 22.23% to 3.731 million tonnes in April, according to CEA. It was 4.798 MT in April last year.

An official of the Ministry of Coal said they were working closely with their counterparts in the Minis- try of Railways so that nobody would lose the ability to generate power for the lack of availability of coal. The fact that both ministries are headed by one person, Piyush Goyal, has been an advantage as far as coordination is concerned.

“There is better transportation through synergy be- tween the Coal and Railway Ministries. Coal loading of Coal India Limited (CIL) has increased from 195 rakes per day in 2014-15 to 230 rakes per day in 2017-18. Timelines for time-bound execution have been set for 14 critical projects for extracting coal,” he said.

According to Coal Minis- ter Piyush Goyal, there was a shortage of coal as there was higher demand. He told The Sunday Guardian, “But there has been an increase in the production to meet the higher demand. The overall scenario has also changed— coal production, which was 462 million tonne in 201314—has now gone up to 567 million tonne in 2017-18. The first two months of 2018-19 has reported 15% growth.”

Besides, the increased production of CIL and improved transportation by Railways, the other factor which has contributed to better coal stock is the auctioning and allotment of 89 coal mines and to coal producing states.