India cuts coal supply, inventories slump as power demand surges

India has cut coal supplies to the non-power sector and put on hold plans to increase the number of fuel auctions for utilities due to a slump in inventories at state government-owned utilities even as demand for electricity surges.

The supply cuts come months after India's most crippling coal shortage in the recent years led to power cuts lasting upto 14 hours in some states. The onset of summer has added to worries about power supply shortages in the country.

State-run Coal India, which accounts for more than 80% of domestic output, has slashed supplies to the non-power sector - which includes