New Delhi, February 22 The country's demand for coal, which had been weak earlier in the current financial year, is expected to increase in the coming days due to a sharp increase in electricity consumption, an industry expert said on Sunday.
Vinaya Varma, Managing Director of mjunction services ltd – a B2B e-commerce platform and a joint venture of SAIL and Tata Steel – said that after several months of negative growth in October and November, power demand staged a strong recovery in December, with a 6.3 per cent increase.
"The trend has continued, with power consumption also rising in January due to harsh winter conditions and general improvements in economic activity," Varma said.
"We believe this will boost coal demand in the coming days," he added.
The country's coal sector, after achieving a record production milestone of one billion tonnes, is facing a surprise demand slowdown, forcing major public firms and new commercial miners to reconsider their expansion plans amid rising uncertainties.
In this challenging environment, mjunction will organize the 19th Indian Coal Markets Conference, "Coalosseum: The Coal Battleground" from February 24-25 in Kolkata.
During the conference, 36 prominent speakers from the coal, power, cement, sponge iron, steel, trading, exchange, and logistics sectors will address various issues facing the coal and energy sector in the country.