States in India to see more power cuts this summer amid coal shortage

With temperature rising and no expectancy of rain in the coming days, fans, air conditioners are people's only treat. But people also have to face the rise in power cuts this scorching summer.

As reported by Reuters, India is likely to face more power cuts this year as utilities' coal inventories is at the lowest pre-summer levels in at least nine years and electricity demand is expected to rise at the fastest pace in at least 38 years.

Coal crisis

Coal inventories at power plants had an average stock of only nine days at the beginning of this financial year starting from April 1, the lowest stock since at least 2014. Federal guidelines recommend power plants to have at least 24 days of stock on average.

Power cut situation

Industrial states like Gujarat and Maharashtra have resorted to load shedding, officials said, with government data showing eastern states, such as Jharkhand and Bihar, and Haryana and Uttarakhand in the north reporting power shortages of over 3 per cent each, the report from Reuters showed.

Coal India on Saturday said it is currently supplying around 3.4 lakh tonnes of coal per day to non-power sector which is the company's average supply to this segment and stressed that it has sufficient buffer stock to increase supply to the sector, as reported by PTI.

Electricity status

The Power Ministry has reviewed the status of imported coal-based (ICB) plants, import of coal for blending and coal stock position. The Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy RK Singh has said this would enable states to optimally utilise their linkage coal in the plants nearer to mines since it would be easier to transmit electricity instead of coal transportation to far off states, as per a Ministry release.
 

(With agency inputs)