Centre denies power crisis but CMs call emergency meets

NEW DELHI: Alarmed by a looming power crisis, chief ministers of UP and Kerala held emergency meetings even as concerns were raised over industry suffering losses in Punjab due to unscheduled power cuts for 4-5 hours every day.

Contrary to Union power minister Raj Kumar Singh’s claim that there was no power crisis in the country due to coal shortage, NDA ally Nitish Kumar on Monday said there was a problem in supply of sufficient quantity of electricity to the state.

In UP, Yogi Adityanath convened a high-level meeting with the UP Power Corporation Limited and officials of various discoms in Lucknow. According to reports, as against a demand of around 18,000MW, the state has been able to wheel in around 14,000MW, forcing unscheduled rostering.