New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday held a meeting with Power Minister RK Singh and Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi amid reports of coal shortage in the country, officials said.
The meeting came in the wake of several states warning about a looming power crisis due to the shortage of coal supply to power plants.
During the hour-long meeting, the three ministers were believed to have discussed issues pertaining to the availability of coal for power plants and the current power demands, news agency PTI reported.
Besides Power Minister RK Singh and Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi, top officials of the power and coal ministries attended the meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
This comes as Delhi Power Minister Satyendar Jain on Monday said that most of the power plants supplying electricity to the national capital are left with only two to three days of coal stock.
Addressing a press conference, Satyendar Jain reporter that National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) capped the production capacity of its plants to 55 per cent.
“There is a coal shortage in most of the power plants. The stock of coal in any power plant should not be less than 15 days. The stock is left for only two to three days. The NTPC has capped the production capacity of its plants to 50-55 per cent. There is a huge problem of coal right now,” he stated, as quoted by news agency ANI.
He further reported that earlier Delhi was getting 4,000 megawatts of electricity but now it is not getting even half of that.
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Looming Power Crisis In States
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday raised an alarm that the national capital could face “a power crisis” due to the “coal shortage situation”.
“I am personally keeping a close watch over the situation. We are trying our best to avoid it. In the meanwhile, I wrote a letter to Hon‘ble PM seeking his personal intervention,” he wrote on Twitter.
Expressing concern, he wrote that “if this situation continues unabated, it would severely impact the power supply situation in Delhi”.
The Delhi Chief Minister has requested the intervention of PMO to ensure adequate diversion of coal from other plants supplying to the national capital.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi also criticised the Centre for inadequate coal supply against the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL)’s agreements with various subsidiaries of the Coal India Ltd (CIL).
Reviewing the power situation amid the alleged shortage of coal supply in the state, CM Channi said that all the thermal plants are unable to generate the full capacity of power due to insufficient coal receipt.
Ahead of this, Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s “urgent personal attention” to monitor the power generation scenario and take appropriate remedial measures to tide over the crisis in view of the non-availability of coal stocks.
Coal Shortage Situation
According to the power ministry data, the power consumption dipped by nearly 2 per cent or by 72 million units (MU) to 3,828 MU on Saturday compared to 3,900 MU on Friday. This came as a slight improvement in the supply situation across the country amid the coal shortage crisis.
According to the data, the power consumption of 3,900 MU on October 8 was the highest this month so far (from October 1 to 9) which also became a cause of concern during the ongoing coal shortage, PTI reported.
The situation of coal shortage at power plants has ensued in a year when the country produced record coal, but rains hit movement of the fuel from mines to power generation units, impacting electricity production in many states, including Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi, and Tamil Nadu.
Another factor that is said to have contributed to the present crisis is power plants, which earlier imported coal to generate electricity, have either curtailed generation or completely stopped owing to the spurt in international energy prices that have made it difficult for them to meet the commitments to states at a particular rate.
Power & Coal Ministers Address Concerns
Meanwhile, Union Power Minister RK Singh on Sunday refuted claims of power crisis in the country.
The bureaucrat-turned-politician said there is no need to panic and added there is enough coal reserve for power production.
Union Minister for Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi on his part said that the “thermal power plants have rolling stock being replenished with daily supply”.
“With withdrawal of monsoon, coal dispatches are set to rise in coming days, increasing coal stocks. Reiterating, there's sufficient coal stock, don't fall for fear-mongering,” he added, as quoted by ANI.
(With Inputs From Agencies)