POWER CRISIS IN INDIA

It all started almost months ago when coal shortage in India started making
headlines. The crisis compelled Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Punjab and
Rajasthan to flag the issue of depleting coal reserves that could lead to
prolonged blackout across the country. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi took
stock of the situation in a meeting conducted with senior officials of the coal
and power ministries on October 12. The situation was so severe that Delhi's
Power Minister Satyendra Jain had told media that the national capital will face
a complete blackout if power plants supplying electricity do not receive an
immediate supply of coal.

In fact, at one point, India's thermal power plants had an average of four days’
worth of coal stock left against the recommended level of 15-30 days at with
over half of the country's 135 coal-fired power plants reportedly having a fuel
stock of fewer than two days, as per the data provided by the Central
Electricity Authority (CEA).

Post Covid-19, business in countries like China, followed by India is taking place
at a faster pace than expected, leaving many economic sectors unprepared. In
2020, eight core sectors, including coal production, transportation and supply
faced a drop in demand due to the sudden pandemic-induced worldwide
lockdown. This sudden surge in unexpected demand has pushed the coal prices
at the international level too, due to which prices of imported coal have sky-
rocketed for India.

Due to the increase in price, power plants that usually relied on imports became
heavily dependent on Indian coal, putting further pressure on the domestic
supplies. India's electricity consumption too, has jumped almost about 17 per
cent in the last two months in comparison to the same time in 2019.

The government has invoked Section 11 of the Electricity Act for all imported
coal-based thermal power plants that mandates power utilities to generate
electricity under “extraordinary circumstances”. Thirteen more coal blocks are
expected to be granted permission for mining in FY 2022-23. The Union
government recently decided to restart 100 coal mines that were earlier
declared financially unsustainable, revive coal plants that are at present under
liquidation and addition of coal power generation utility. This shows that India is
yet to reach its coal peak-use and is not moving away from coal anytime soon,
energy experts feel.
M Likhitha Chowdary,2110030310.