How rains, lack of foresight of power producers & states caused a power crisis in India
India has installed base of 388-Gw, including 202-Gw projects based only on coal. The country managed 200 Gw of peak demand on July 7 this year, when the coal stocks were just enough, and rains had not disrupted coal supplies. Also, the 17,600-Mw imported coal-based projects were functional then. The immediate crisis seems largely fuel-related with prolonged monsoons impacting coal mining and high cost of imported coal rendering such fuel-based capacity unviable. However, coal stocking data shows, lack of adequate planning by states, non-payment of dues to Coal India NSE 1.06 % accentuated the supply issues. States did not build stocks through the year when there were supplies available, significantly contributing to the crisis. Sarita C Singh looks at the crisis:
