NTPC power plants have 2 days of coal stock left;Govt steps in

As electricity demand peaks due to sub-normal monsoon, state-owned NTPC has warned that power plants are running on very low coal stock of less than two days, prompting government to take steps to fix the crisis.
While the nation's largest power producer NTPC stated that six of its plants have critical levels of coal stocks, Central Electricity Authority (CEA) said 46 out of 100 electricity generation stations in the country have fuel stock of less than 7 days.
In Lok Sabha, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said "corrective" action is being taken by the government to improve coal supply, including efforts by Coal India Ltd to raise production beyond current year's targets.

Power utilities have been advised to use imported coal wherever necessary.
Environment ministry nod is being sought to mine more coal and resource-rich states of Odisha and Jharkhand have been asked to help transport coal out quickly.
"We are increasing the (coal) crushing capacity, increasing (the number of) washeries in mining areas. We have also appealed to the Environment Ministry to allow us to mine additional fuel wherever there are possibilities," Goyal later told reporters outside Parliament.

NTPC rang the alarm bells when it on July 14 wrote to the Power Ministry saying six of its plants with a combined capacity of 16,840 MW or 15 per cent of India's total energy capacity from coal-fired plants, have stocks of up to two days and cannot weather even a "small" disruption in supplies.

"With the ensuing monsoon, it will become more difficult to replenish the coal stocks and in case of even a small disruption, the total power generation at these stations will be adversely affected," NTPC Chairman and Managing Director Arup Roy Choudhury wrote in the letter.
Stocks at three of the six plants would last less than one day.