Altogether, 45 Indian thermal power plants are operating with critically low coal supplies as of Aug. 25, according to data from the Central Electricity Authority, a statutory government body under the Ministry of Power.
Of the total, 40 rely on domestic coal for generation, one plant is not currently operational, while four are designed to operate on imported coal, as per CEA data.
The plants relying on domestic coal have a generation capacity of 205.6 gigawatts and a daily requirement of 2,917,000 thermal tons, according to CEA data.
Meanwhile, plants designed to use imported coal account for 17.8 GW of generation capacity, with a daily consumption of 188,000 thermal tons.
The number of plants with insufficient coal stocks for Aug. 25 climbed sharply from 31 recorded on July 31, CEA data show.
Heavy rains in major coal-producing states such as Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have disrupted mining and delayed coal deliveries to power plants, a Reuters report said, noting that electricity demand has risen due to the hotter-than-usual weather linked with the El Nino weather pattern,
Between Aug. 1-23, India's thermal power plants consumed coal stocks sharply, with coal use exceeding supplies, commodity intelligence provider BigMint said Thursday.
Thermal plants received 52.93 million mt during Aug. 1-23 and consumed 59.46 million mt during the same period, resulting in a deficit of 6.53 million tonnes, it said, citing CEA data.
The BigMint report added that aligning daily coal burn could stabilize stocks. However, rebuilding inventories would need receipts to exceed demand for a sustained period.
With August about to end, increasing mine-to-plant deliveries is the immediate operational priority to restore inventory levels, the BigMint analysis said.