New Delhi, Oct 24 (IANS): With weak demand from the power sector in the wake of Covid-19 disruptions, the country's largest coal producer Coal India Ltd shifted its attention to the non-power sector to see around six-fold increase in the sales of the dry fuel.

In the first half of the current fiscal (FY21), CIL's fuel allocation under the exclusive e-auction scheme for the non-power sector rose close to six times at 13.44 million tonnes as against a mere 2.31 million tonne during the same period of previous year.

Lockdown in various parts of the country and continuing sluggish economic conditions dried up demand for the dry fuel pushing CIL to explore new avenues for growth.

The government had earlier asked state-run power companies such as NTPC to reduce coal imports needed for blending purpose and look more at the domestic sources.

The CIL has also set up various washeries to supply good quality coal that could replace imports.