India's NTPC Plans to Procure Up to 15 Million Tonnes of Coal from Private Miners

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 6, India's National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) plans to expand coal procurement from private coal mining companies to replenish continuously declining inventories at its coal-fired power plants. According to information provided by people familiar with the matter, NTPC is in talks with private coal suppliers to procure up to 15 million tonnes of coal, while also planning to use approximately 50 million tonnes of coal produced from its own captive mines. Due to increased coal-fired power generation and continuous rainfall in major coal-producing regions, the company's power plant coal inventories have dropped from approximately 18 million tonnes in April this year to approximately 5.5 million tonnes in early October.

NTPC's existing coal supply mainly comes from long-term fuel supply agreements with Coal India and Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL). Another industry report dated October 7 shows that NTPC plans to procure approximately 10 million tonnes of coal from commercial coal mines in the second half of fiscal year 2026-2027, i.e., from October 2026 to March 2027. The company procured approximately 4 million tonnes from such mines in fiscal year 2024-2025, and the scale of the new round of procurement is expected to increase significantly.

According to inventory data as of October 5, NTPC's power plant coal reserves stood at approximately 5.2 million tonnes, sufficient for only 5 to 6 days of operation at the consumption level at that time. The company expects coal demand of approximately 297 million tonnes in fiscal year 2026-2027, up from approximately 271 million tonnes in the previous fiscal year. In fiscal year 2025-2026, NTPC received a total of approximately 270 million tonnes of coal, of which approximately 215.9 million tonnes came from Coal India and Singareni Collieries Company Limited, and another approximately 47.7 million tonnes came from its own captive mines.

India's growing electricity demand has led coal-fired units to increase output. NTPC's power generation in the second quarter of fiscal year 2026-2027 increased by approximately 13% year-on-year, with a coal-fired unit load factor of approximately 76%. Nationwide, 81 of the 191 coal-fired power plants included in relevant statistics are facing severe inventory shortages. India's Ministry of Power has required more than 100 industrial captive coal-fired power plants to operate at full capacity as much as possible from October 1 to the end of the year to increase electricity supply.