India is the latest country facing a major power crisis due to rising energy demand, surging coal prices and supply constraints, with authorities warning that there are just four days of coal stocks available.
Analysts say the current crisis, along with falling support from investors to finance new coal-fired plants, raise serious questions about the government’s plans to expand coal production.
According to India’s power ministry, the country’s 135 thermal power plants had an average of just four days of coal stocks on Friday, down from 13 in early August.
While the situation is not as severe as in China, where a power crunch has forced factories to curb production and left households without electricity, India’s coal supply crisis could drag on for months and lead to power outages, its power minister has warned.
“I don’t know whether I will be comfortable in the next five to six, four to five months,” power minister Raj Kumar Singh told The Indian Express this week. “Normally the demand starts coming down in the second half of October… when [the weather] starts cooling…but it’s going to be touch and go,” he said
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