4. Coal-Sourcing Options for Captive Power Plants of Aluminum Smelters in India: Issues and Challenges

The primary aluminum industry in India consists of three major players, that is, NALCO (PSU), Hindalco and Vedanta, with a production of about 3.4 MT and capacity of 4.1 MT (Saraswat and Ghosh, 2018). All the plants have their captive power plants for cheaper and uninterrupted power supply. The aluminum industry has set up about 9500 MW of captive power capacity (“Aluminium industry demands resumption of coal supply”, 2018). Currently, aluminum smelters in India are facing huge coal shortages in domestic coal supply from Coal India Limited (CIL). This study was taken to analyze the issues and challenges related to coal sourcing and to explore and suggest suitable options so as to execute the coal sourcing in the most efficient way. The inputs received and the data collected from the various sources are utilized in the formulation of business solutions to determine the most suitable mix of fuel-sourcing options. The study analyzes the current scenario of coal demand and supply and estimates the gap based on the market survey and then conclusive recommendations are suggested.