Disrupted Coal Supply in India likely to result in a nation-wide black-out
Delhi – In the recent news, the energy sector of India is undergoing a severe electricity shortage. A key reason for this is due to shortage of coal in the country and all prime thermal power plants need coal as the base for fueling them. Supplies across the majority of coal-fired thermal power plants in India have dwindled to just days worth of stock.
India is the second-largest importer, consumer, and producer of coal, and has the world’s fourth-largest reserves is under electricity crisis and it is stated that the country will be facing frequent blackouts now.
India’s prime importers are from Indonesia, Australia, and South Africa. Experts’ say the crunch could upset renewed efforts to ramp up manufacturing since 70 percent of power is generated from the coal itself.
Power Ministry stated that as economies open up in the rest of the world, the demand for importing power-generation fuels, such as coal, has risen. Similarly in India, the power consumption in August jumped by nearly 20 percent from the same month in 2019, before the pandemic struck.
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Additionally, to add gravity to this pressing issue, CM of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal wrote a strong-worded letter to PM Modi and he added in that the national capital could face a power crisis. He is personally keeping a close watch over the situation. Seeking his intervention for adequate coal, gas supply to power plants supplying in the city as an immediate rescue.
The state of Punjab is already seeing a power cut of 3-4 hours on a daily basis and the state government of Rajasthan as well announced that the major 10 cities which are home to millions of people will be facing scheduled power cuts officially from now onwards.
Worsening the situation in Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, and Bihar, they are going to be the worst hit by this electricity shortage. Even unscheduled power cuts will make it difficult for the farmers to water the crops, as electricity is needed to power irrigation pumps.