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NEARLY HALF OF INDIA'S COAL POWER PLANTS HAVE ONE WEEK OF ST OCKS
Nearly half of India's coal-fired power stations only have
enough stocks to last a week, the power minister said, as the
country struggles to connect millions to the grid and wrestles
with a growing coal import bill.
Coal imports equate to about 1% of India's economy as state
behemoth Coal India, the world's largest coal miner, has failed
to raise output fast enough to meet demand.
This leads to frequent blackouts, something new Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen to fix soon but which will raise coal
shipments from countries such as Indonesia, Australia and
South Africa. Coal fires more than half of India's electricity.
Power Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday 26 out of 100
coal-based power plants in India had "super critical coal stock"
- enough to meet requirements for less than four days.
A total of 44 plants, including the super critical ones, have
"critical coal stocks" sufficient for less than a week, with the
majority in the state of Maharashtra, the home of India's financial capital Mumbai.
Limited has been impressed upon to enhance production of domestic coal in the country and power utilities have also been
advised to enhance imports of coal," Goyal told lawmakers.
India is already the world's third-largest coal