Coal stocks at India's power plants plunge 45% since August, leaving 7.7 days of cover

Coal inventories at Indian power plants fell 45.1% from the start of August to 20.78 million tonnes as of October 10, leaving the 191 plants tracked by the Central Electricity Authority's daily tally only enough for just 7.7 days of operations at the day's coal burn rate of 2.69 million tonnes. The drawdown over the past ten weeks amounted to 17.05 million tonnes, according to data published by the authority.

The decline has been generally steady, with stocks averaging 34.15 million tonnes in August, 24.26 million in September and 20.75 million in October 1-10, from 41.33 million in July, the daily reports showed. Receipts of coal ran below consumption on 68 of the 71 days from August 1. Burn averaged