Out of power

Chronic poor planning has precipitated the coal shortage

India’s post-pandemic recovery could literally face a blackout thanks to poor planning by state-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL), the largest supplier to thermal power plants. As a result of its inability to keep track of rising demand for electricity — which topped 2019 consumption in August — 106 thermal power plants with an installed capacity of 131.8 Gw, or 65 per cent of the installed capacity, have either zero stocks or at most for seven days; 27 plants representing 33.8 Gw of capacity have just one day’s stock against a government-recommended norm of 14 days. Coal accounts for 55 per