Power crisis has become a critical subject of discussion as only 4 days of coal reserves are left in India. With the limited coal supply, coal powered stations are triggering a threat to stall the world’s fastest- expanding major economy.  More than half of the nation’s plants are on alert for outages after the increase in electricity demand and a slump in local coal output stockpiles. Coal-fired power stations have broken all the previous records and have embodied the lowest number of coal availability in years. 

ÂI donÂt know whether I will be comfortable in the next five to six, four to five months,” Power Minister Raj Kumar Singh was quoted as telling The Indian Express in an interview published Tuesday. While demand is typically slow with cooler weather from mid-October, ÂitÂs going to be touch and go,” he said.

Coal is used to produce around 70% of electricity and the consumption of coal is going to surge high in the upcoming years. Like the neighbouring country China, India is also getting affected with the sharp surge of electricity demand. Several government ministers are also seen working with State-run Coal India Ltd. and NTPC Ltd.  Being the largest power generator they are expected to increase the mine outputs and make sure that the demand is fulfilled.

ÂUntil supplies stabilize completely, we are likely to see power outages in some pockets, while customers elsewhere may be asked to pay more for power, said Pranav Master, director for infrastructure advisory at credit ratings firm Crisil Ltd. ÂBecause of imported coal prices shooting through the roof, plants running on domestic coal have had to do a lot of heavy-lifting. Things are expected to get better as the rains abate.Â

The companies that have been maintaining their payment regularly will be prioritized and provided proper coal supply and mandated level of fuel stocks, newspaper claimed.

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