According to sources, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), or Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office, is set to assess the coal supply situation in India today, amid fears of widespread blackouts across the country and many states expressing concerns over outages.
On Monday, Home Minister Amit Shah met with Pralhad Joshi and RK Singh, the ministers in charge of coal and power, respectively.
Many states have expressed alarm following weekend power outages, but the administration has dismissed these fears, claiming that there is enough coal on hand to meet power plant demands.
According to government data, the coal stock situation in thermal power plants shows that 115 of the country’s 135 centrally regulated power plants are experiencing “critical or supercritical” coal shortages.
To make up for the shortage, the Power Ministry has encouraged states to use unallocated power from central producing stations (15 percent of power is set aside and assigned to states that need it). “The Ministry of Power has been informed that several states are not supplying power to their consumers and are imposing load shedding. At the same time, they are selling power at a high price on the power exchange “According to a statement released by the ministry. It went on to say that distribution corporations should not sell power on the power exchange and starve their own customers.
The Power Ministry has asked the country’s largest energy generator, state-run NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation), and Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) to send as much power as possible to the national capital in response to Delhi’s repeated alarms.
Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi Chief Minister, who has raised the likelihood of power outages in the capital, said the situation in the country was “extremely grave.” “In the entire country, the situation is critical. Several chief ministers have written to the Centre to express their dissatisfaction with the situation. Everyone is working together to make things better “On Monday, he stated.
Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi Chief Minister, who has raised the likelihood of power outages in the capital, said the situation in the country was “extremely grave.” “In the entire country, the situation is critical. Several chief ministers have written to the Centre to express their dissatisfaction with the situation. Everyone is working together to make things better “On Monday, he stated.
Apart from Delhi, power outages have been reported in Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, and Tamil Nadu.
Nitish Kumar, a BJP ally and the Chief Minister of Bihar, also mentioned a possible coal shortage in his state. “There is an issue, to be sure. We either acquire it from NTPC or from private enterprises, depending on our needs. However, the supply is now impacted. There are several factors that have led to this scenario. It’s not just in Bihar; it’s all over the place “He informed reporters about it.
Coal accounts for over 70% of India’s electrical generation, with about three-quarters mined in the country. On a year of record coal production, the crisis is thought to be the result of rain disrupting coal transport from mines to power plants. Due to a spike in international energy prices, power plants that use imported coal have either lowered their output or totally ceased generating power, adding to the issue.
