Rising electricity demand strains India's coal plants, 85 critically low
Nearly half of India's coal power plants are facing a serious coal shortage right now.
Out of 176 domestic plants, 85 have hit critically low stock levels, and even imported coal-based plants aren't spared.
With electricity demand rising fast, these stations, together powering much of the country, are under real pressure to keep up.
Coal stocks halved, 6 day supply
Coal reserves at these plants have dropped below a quarter of what's considered safe.
Just since July, stocks have halved from 35.13 million tons to about 17.67 million tons.
Ankit Jain, Vice-President and Co-Group Head of Corporate Ratings at ICRA, points out that current supplies can only cover 6 days of use instead of the usual 19 to 20 days needed for smooth operations.
The crunch comes as domestic coal output falls and electricity demand jumps by 23.4% compared to last year.