Power crisis: Sufficient coal in India, says Coal Minister
Amid a looming power crisis in the country, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi recently said sufficient coal was available in India. He asserted on Saturday the current stocks would last for another month and reserves were getting replenished daily with "record production." He added that 72.5 million tons (MT) of coal was available at different sources, while thermal power plants had 22MT of dry fuel.
Why does this story matter?
With soaring temperatures and heatwaves across several states, India's power demand has been on the rise. However, coal shortage fears have triggered blackouts in parts of the country. In fact, India's electricity shortage of 574 million units between March 1-30 was the worst since October 2021, Reuters reported. The surging power demand has led to a reduction in coal supplies to non-power sector industries.
Here's what the Coal Minister said
Asserting ample coal was available in India, Joshi on Saturday said 72.50MT of coal was available with different sources like Coal India (CIL), Singareni Collieries Company (SCCL), and coal washeries, among others. Notably, the government's provisional data showed the total coal production in FY2021-22 was higher at 777.23MT compared to 716MT in FY2020-21, witnessing a growth of 8.55%, as per the Coal Ministry.
Where do coal mining companies stand in terms of production?
Notably, CIL's production increased by 4.43% to 622.64MT in FY22 compared to 596.24MT in FY21. SCCL recorded a rise of 28.55% in production to 65.02MT in FY22 over 50.58MT in FY21. The production in captive mines grew to 89.57MT in the same period from 69.18MT in FY21. Joshi said about 16.7MT of coal was recently offered to power generation companies to fill their stocks.
Several states witness power outages
However, as temperatures soar across the country, the demand for electricity has also been increasing. This earlier prompted states such as Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Andhra Pradesh to cut off power supplies reportedly owing to the coal scarcity. The power crunch also led to frequent hours-long outages in several districts of Haryana. Coal shortages reportedly resulted in planned blackouts in states like Maharashtra, too.
Shortage of power supply is affecting businesses
Due to the power shortage, both small- and large-scale businesses in India are being forced to spend more on energy in a tight domestic and international market. "A persistent shortage of coal could weigh on the country's industrial output and become another stagflationary shock," reported Bloomberg citing Japan-based Nomura Holdings. Meanwhile, the Russia-Ukraine war has also been fueling the rise in energy prices globally.
'Not a coal crisis but power demand-supply mismatch'
Even as states faced coal shortage-induced power outages, Coal Secretary AK Jain told PTI it was due to the increased power demand that there were low coal stocks at power plants. He blamed the situation on the early summer arrival, rising gas/imported coal prices, and fall in generation at coastal thermal power plants. "It is not a coal crisis but...power demand-supply mismatch," Jain explained.
