Power plants short of coal despite rising output

KOLKATA: Stocks at Coal India’s pit heads have risen from 20 million tonnes in November to 45 million tonnes, enough to run nearly a dozen 1,000 MW plants non-stop for a year at 85% capacity utilisation, but power stations remain starved of fuel.

“The issue lies with logistics including roadways, conveyor belts, and short distance railway lines,” said Coal India chairman Gopal Singh. “We are not being able to produce to fullest extent due to such evacuation and logistics issues,” he said. The latest available data from Central Electricity Authority indicated that 25 plants had critical stock position while average stocks for 113 plants monitored by CEA was enough for only about 10 days.