Short-circuiting gencos: Govt should not pass the power crisis buck to the private sector

The Union government’s diktat to power generation companies (gencos) that run on imported coal, to operate at full capacity, smacks of high-handedness, and is hardly a solution to the escalating energy crisis in the country. With coal stocks down to nine days’ supply, and demand for electricity soaring, the government has invoked Section 11 of the Electricity Act. It has mandated other producers to import 10% of their coal requirements, rather than 4%, and blend this with domestically-produced coal, so as to enable them to meet the coal stock norms.