Prime Minister's Office Reviews Coal Crisis Today, Say Sources: 10 Points

On Monday, Home Minister Amit Shah met the ministers in charge of the coal and power ministries, Pralhad Joshi and RK Singh.

Many states have expressed concern after weekend power cuts, although the government has downplayed these fears, assuring enough coal stocks to meet the demands of power plants.

According to government data, the coal stock situation in thermal power stations shows that 115 of 135 centrally-monitored power stations in the country are facing "critical or super critical" shortage of coal.

The Power Ministry has asked states to utilise unallocated power of the central generating stations - 15 per cent power is kept aside and allocated to states that need it -- to fill the shortfall. "It has been brought to the notice of the Ministry of Power that some states are not supplying power to their consumers and imposing load shedding. At the same time, they are also selling power in the power exchange at high price," a ministry statement said. Distribution companies should not sell power in the power exchange and starve their own consumers, it added.

Responding to Delhi repeatedly sounding an alarm, the Power Ministry also directed the country's largest electricity producer, state-run NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation), and Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) to supply as much power as available to the national capital.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who had raised the possibility of power cuts in the capital, said the situation was "very critical" in the entire country. "The situation is very critical in the entire country. Several chief ministers have written to the Centre about it. All are trying together to improve the situation," he said on Monday.

Mr Kejriwal's earlier comments about a looming crisis in Delhi had led to central government assurances that the situation is under control and such worries are "entirely misplaced". Union Power Minister RK Singh said "a panic has been unnecessarily created about coal shortage", adding the situation will be handled in the next few days. Mr Singh also said that "sufficient power is available".

Apart from Delhi, states like Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Tamil Nadu have also raised concerns over power cuts.

BJP ally and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also talked about possible coal shortage impacting his state. "It is true there is a problem. As per our requirement, either we get it from NTPC or from private companies. But the supply is affected now. There are some reasons due to which such a situation has arisen. It is not only in Bihar but also everywhere," he told reporters.

Coal accounts for nearly 70 per cent of India's electricity generation and around three-quarters is mined domestically. The crisis, on a year of record coal production, is believed to be the result of a rain affecting movement of the fuel from mines to power generation units. To add to the crisis, power plants that use imported coal have also either reduced their output or have completely stopped generating power because of a spurt in international energy prices.