Fear of power disruption misplaced: Coal Ministry

The statement comes in the wake of reports that warned of a power crisis looming large due to the coal shortage in the country.

“The Ministry of coal reassures that ample coal is available in the country to meet the demand of power plants. Any fear of disruption in power supply is entirely misplaced,” the Ministry said in a release.

The coal stock at power plants’ end is about 72 lakh tonnes, sufficient for four days requirement, and that the Coal India Ltd. (CIL) end is more than 400 lakh tonnes, which is being supplied to power plants, the Coal Ministry said. The domestic coal-based power generation has grown by nearly 24 per cent this year (till September) based on a robust supply from the coal companies.

The daily average coal requirement at the power plants is about 18.5 lakh tonnes of coal per day whereas the daily coal supply has been around 17.5 lakh tonnes per day. “Due to extended monsoons, the despatches were constrained. The coal available at the power plants is a rolling stock, which gets replenished by the supplies from the coal companies daily. Therefore, any fear of coal stocks depleting at the power plant end is erroneous,” it said.