India's thermal plants face coal shortfall by February or March
India's thermal power plants are running seriously low on coal and could face a crunch by February or March, according to a new Moneycontrol report.
As of October 11, coal stocks were just 18.25 million metric tons, way below the needed 57.23 million metric tons.
Plants need to add 31.75 million metric tons in the next three months (about 280,000 metric tons daily) just to catch up.
India sees rising demand, supplies insufficient
Rising electricity demand and postponed maintenance work are making things tougher, especially with El Nino expected to push power needs even higher into early next year.
Even though coal deliveries have picked up a bit in October, it's not enough.
The coal ministry said stocks were gradually improving, and daily coal supplies to the power sector averaged 2.49 MT during October 1-10, versus 2.21 MT in September.