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NEW DELHI : Coal stocks at power plants across the country continue to decline with power demand surging.
According to data from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the 165 operating power plants under its ambit, have 21.55 million tonne of coal stock, 32% of the 66.32 million tonne required stock, as of April 25. On April 24, the coal stock was at 33% of the regulatory requirement.
Further, a total of 106 plants have critical level of coal stock, less than 25% of the required stock.
Several states in the country, including Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab are facing power outages amid the early onset of summers and the eventual high power demand.
Further, along with low coal stock, high prices of imported coal prices and low availability of railway rakes fo coal supplies have also impacted the availability of the mineral, experts said.
As concerns of a coal crisis looms large, industry body Assocham has suggested duty-free import of coal, greater availability of railways rake to transport the dry fuel along with different rate of diesel for captive generators for dealing with power supply issue amid summer.
“We would urge states and discoms not to differentiate against commercial consumers in power supply. This is critical because growth in industrial production remains muted despite the overall economic recovery," Assocham Secretary General Deepak Sood said in a statement.
On Monday, union ministers for power and railways held a meeting on Monday to devise strategies for increasing coal supplies to power generation companies in order to meet the rising power demand amid looming coal shortages.
Power minister R.K Singh and railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw were accompanied by power secretary Alok Kumar, coal secretary A.K Jain and other senior officials from the ministries of power, coal and railways.
During the meeting, Singh urged all stakeholders at the centre and state level to work hand-in-hand for unhindered power supply. He urged power gencos to own freight rakes under the scheme of ministry of railways to deal with logistic constraints in coal supply.