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Coal India Limited (CIL), a state-owned company, announced that coal supply to the power sector increased by 15.6% to 49.7 million tonnes (MT) last month due to the high demand for dry fuel from power plants. The company plans to increase its dispatches, particularly to power plants, in the upcoming months. The announcement comes as numerous sections of the country are experiencing power outages. With increasing productivity, CIL expects to raise shipments even more in the coming months, specifically to power plants. CIL produces more than 80% of the country's coal and is a significant provider of coal to the power industry. The PSU's coal production increased by 27.6% to 53.5 MT last month, compared to 41.9 MT in April 2021. CIL's subsidiaries have all shown a year-over-year (Y-o-Y) increase. The Mahanadi Coalfields, the South Eastern Coalfields, the Northern Coalfields, and the Western Coalfields all increased output considerably in April. In April 2022, coal output was the greatest ever for the month, so far, surpassing the previous mark of 45.3 MT achieved in April 2019. In April, CIL's overall offtake increased by 6% to 57.5 MT, up from 54.2 MT in the same month the previous year. The offtake was 4 MT higher than the month's production. Importantly, CIL saw a 16% increase in overburden reduction (OBR). During the month, the business dug 132.8 million cubic metres of OBR, a 16% increase. In April of this year, the same figure was 114.6 million cubic metres. CIL previously said that the present power problem is mostly due to a dramatic fall in energy output from various fuel sources, rather than a lack of local coal. A K Jain, Coal Secretary, told the media that low coal stocks at power plants have been attributed to several factors, including increased power demand due to the post-Covid-19 economic boom, the early arrival of summer, rising gas and imported coal prices, and a sharp drop in electricity generation by coastal thermal power plants. Image Source Also read: CIL's prospects expect to rise amid increased power demand