Despite Covid-19 restrictions in several regions, state-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) witnessed 55 million tonnes (mt) offtake of the fossil fuel in May due to higher demand from the power sector. The mining major maintained its output and despatch momentum. Moreover, CIL is expected to register dry fuel production of around 41.7 million tonnes as against the production of 41.43 million tonnes in the corresponding period last year.

As of December 31, 2020, around 405 million tonnes coal was produced by Coal India. Out of its several subsidiaries, it recorded a major contribution of 101.8 million tonnes from Odisha-based MCL. The state holds a significant place in the country's mining sector. It has rich coal reserves that constitute around 24 per cent of the country's total deposits.

Harnessing the potential of the coal sector, Indian conglomerates are also participating in the mining industry and bagging tenders for developing it. Adani Talabira was chosen as the mine developer-cum-operator (MDO) of coal blocks.

Additionally, for coal blocks in Talabira, Adani Group signed a mining agreement with NLC India Ltd which has estimated deposits of 554 million tonnes (mt). On the other hand, Vedanta Group has won the Radhikapur coal block in Odisha's Angul district with approved extraction capacity of six million tonnes per annum and total reserves of 312 million tonnes.

With immense coal capacity and efforts by public and private companies, coal-fuelled electricity generation remains the mainstay of the country. India's power sector is the largest consumer of coal and considering the region wise inventory coal resources of the country, the state of Odisha has a share of 24.76%. Having two Gondwana coalfields – Talcher coalfield and IB River coalfield, it boasts of being the second largest state with coal inventory of 80.840 BT.