Coal India’s (CIL) Q3FY22 offtake volumes at 174mnte (up 12.8% YoY) took 9MFY22 volumes to 481.8mnte, up 17.6% YoY (up 15.4% vs 9MFY20), at an all-time high. Key factors behind the surge in offtake volumes were: 1) Higher power demand; 2) low coal stocks at most power plants; 3) unprecedented power prices on exchanges in Oct’21, 4) elevated global coal prices, forcing Indian importers to look for domestic alternatives, 5) RE generation still some way off from becoming a substitute for coal, especially during non-solar hours of the day.