Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), India's second-biggest coal producer, produced 3.29 million tonnes of coal in July, slumping 32.5% from a year ago and 40.8% month on month, according to the preliminary data from the Ministry of Coal of India.
The production drops are mainly attributed to seasonal rainfall which disrupted underground mining.
SCCL's coal sales in July were also weighed down by the rain, to 3.36 million tonnes, tumbling 33.2% from a year ago and 38.1% on the month.
During the first four months of current fiscal year (April-July), the company produced 20.2 million tonnes of coal, falling 1.17% from a year ago, and coal sales decreased 4.9% to 20.66 million tonnes.
Coal-fired power generation accounted for over 70% of India's power mix. The increased downpours slowed down electricity usage in the country, to 89.24 TWh in July, up 4.17% year on year but down 10.6% month on month.
As of August 2, Indian power utilities have a total of 30.2 million tonnes of coal stocks, rising clearly from 26.77 million tonnes in early-July, enough for 10.9 days' usage.
(Writing by Rebecca Liu Editing by Tammy Yang)
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