Ministry asks power utilities to increase generation by 10 per cent

In a bid to ensure enough power for the national grid, the Ministry of Power has asked central as well as state public sector utilities (PSUs) to increase their power output by at least 10 per cent.

In a meeting convened by the ministry, Union Power Secretary Anil Razdan asked all the power generating utilities, including NTPC and NHPC, to increase their generation to at least 10 per cent, according to a statement issued by the ministry today.

The ministry has also asked the power utilities to increase coal imports according to the target assigned to them.

Last week, Razdan had informed that about 2 per cent of India’s installed power generation capacity remains unutilised due to coal shortages. He had also said that the targets for coal imports were assigned to the utilities by the ministry before the beginning of the current year.

The move comes at a time when a lot of thermal power stations across the country are facing critical stock positions and the coal supply position from the domestic sources has faltered.

The ministry has also asked the coal companies to improve the supply of coal according to the contracted linkages. Some states had recently complained of less than 60 per cent delivery of coal as per linkage schedules.

The ministry has also advised the states overdrawing power to discipline themselves and warn them of severe action if they fail to do so. The states overdrawing power regularly from the Grid include Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Razdan also said that when supply falls less than demand, the generators must give priority to public utility services and essential services. He also asked states to connect all the untapped captive power units to the grid and increase the dispatch of power from all liquid or gas generating units.