Coal stock shortages ease at thermal power stations

Coal shortages in domestic power stations eased as the number of thermal power plants with less than seven days of coal stocks fell to 50 last week, down from 61 in early November, government data showed on Wednesday.

Earlier, coal supply shortages threatened to stoke a power crisis in the country.

Twenty eight of the power stations had less than four days coal supplies on December 4, down from 35 on November 2, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) said.

On an average, 100 power plants had enough coal to last a week on December 4, CEA said, far below the 15-30 days the electricity body sets as an operating norm.

However, cooler seasonal weather in December has reduced demand for power and eased concerns of widespread blackouts.

The country, which relies on coal for about three-fifths of its energy needs, is turning to increased coal imports because of insufficient domestic mining, despite holding the world's fifth-largest reserves of the fossil fuel.

(Reuters)