Centre blames states’ dues for coal shortage

Union minister RK Singh on Thursday blamed states for electricity outages in some parts of the country amid rising power demand in the face of an uncharacteristic heatwave, saying the problems were not due to shortage of coal but because of non-payment dues to Coal India Limited (CIL), delay in lifting coal, and “improper planning”.

India on Thursday met a recordpeak power demand of 204.653 GW — the highest the country has ever met (overall) — according to the power ministry, which has projected the demand to further peak at about 215GW in the coming months.

Asked about the quantum of electricity shortage, Singh said that in April, 70 million units of peak power demand could not be met across the country, up from 14 million units in March.