Coal shortage hurting non-power sectors still year after supply shift

In the past one year, the non-power sector has seen coal dispatch fall by 33 per cent

Since the start of a mismatch in the demand and supply of coal in August last year — and the government decision to prioritise power units for coal supply — the non-power sectors of steel, aluminium, iron, paper, cement, etc, have been suffering. Almost a year later, and despite an increase in coal production, the situation of these sectors has hardly improved, sector executives told Business Standard.

In the past year, the non-power sectors have seen a fall of 33 per cent in coal dispatches. At the start of the coal shortage in August 2021, the Centre had directed national miner