State-run Coal India Ltd is building up stockpiles at its railway sidings, washeries and ports to ensure sufficient supply to thermal power plants, Union minister Pralhad Joshi said on Wednesday.

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Coal stocks at power plants have increased to 28.34 MT as of July 14 from 25.6 MT as of March 31, according to the Central Electricity Authority.

Coal India (CIL) "has already started building stock at its railway sidings along with goods shed and private washery sidings and ports," Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said in a reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

With regard to Coal India's sidings, 1.8 million tonnes (MT) of coal has been stockpiled, 1.4 MT at goods shed, 0.95 MT at washeries and 1.39 MT at ports, the minister said.

CIL, which is one of the major suppliers of fossil fuel to the power sector, dispatched 152.49 MT of coal to the sector in the first quarter of FY'23, registering a growth of 19 per cent over the year-ago period.

Thermal power plants faced acute coal shortages in April and May due to supply constraints and high prices of imported coal, which hit their power production.

The government in April attributed the power crisis largely to the sharp decline in electricity generation from different fuel sources and not due to the non-availability of domestic coal.