New Delhi: Parliament was informed on Tuesday that the domestic power sector imported 35.3 million tonnes (MT) of coal during the April-October period of the ongoing fiscal year. Union Minister RK Singh, in the Rajya Sabha, revealed that among the total imports, import-based power plants acquired 21.7 MT of coal, while thermal plants brought in 13.6 MT for blending purposes.

Comparatively, during the previous fiscal year 2022-23, the total coal import stood at 55.6 MT, with import-based plants importing 20.5 MT, and the remaining 35.1 MT used by thermal power plants for operations.

Singh highlighted the essential role of coal in power generation for thermal plants, affirming that till October 2023, India produced 10,47,439 million units of power. Additionally, plans are underway to deploy approximately 19.79 crore pre-paid consumers' smart meters across states, along with around 52 lakh distribution transformer (DT) smart meters and 1.88 lakh feeder smart meters as part of the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS).

The RDSS, intended to continue until FY 2025-26, targets the reduction of Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses to national levels of 12-15%, aiming to eliminate the Average Cost of Supply and Average Realizable Revenue (ACS-ARR) gaps by 2024-25. This strategy aims to enhance financial viability for Distribution Companies (Discoms) and overall improvement within the power sector.