Hours after Delhi Power Minister Satyendar Jain pointed out that many power plants in the national capital were running with less than a day's worth of coal supply, NTPC Limited on Friday, 29 April, said that Unchahar and Dadri power stations were declaring more than 100 percent rated capacity to the grid.
The Coal Ministry, too, issued a statement, saying sufficient coal is available with coal companies.
The power company added that all units of Unchahar and Dadri were running at full load except Unchahar Unit 1, which was under an annual planned overhaul.
The government had earlier warned that it might not be able to provide uninterrupted electricity supply to important establishments in the capital, like metro trains and hospitals.
The state minister had also held an emergency meeting on Thursday to assess the situation and also wrote to the Centre requesting it to ensure adequate coal availability to power plants that supply electricity to the national capital.
On Friday, NTPC Limited stated, "All 6 Units of Dadri and 5 Units of Unchahar are running at full capacity and receiving regular coal supplies. Present stock is 1,40,000 Million Tonnes (MT) and 95,000 MT respectively and import coal supplies are also in pipeline."
'Sufficient Coal Available With Coal Companies': Govt
The Coal Ministry also issued a statement on Friday, saying sufficient coal is available with coal companies.
"Coal production by Coal India Ltd (CIL) hiked by 27.2% in April 2022 as compared to the same period in 2021, and coal dispatch hiked by 5.8%. Coal stock at CIL is 56.7 MT & at SCCL is 4.3 MT. Thus, sufficient coal stock with coal companies is available," the ministry said.
"The coal stock at Good Shed sidings, washery sidings & port is about 4.7 MT & is ready to be moved to power plants immediately. Apart from this, around 2 MT coal stock is also available at the CIL sidings," the ministry further said.
"Indian Railways is fully geared to move this stock to power gencos (generation companies) across the country. CIL offered 5.75 MT of coal to State/Central gencos & 5.3 MT of this coal agreed to be booked by the gencos. This will help in coal stock buildup at TPPs," the ministry added.
'No Power Back Up': Jain
Jain had earlier claimed, "There is no 'power' back up... back up should be that of coal of over 21 days, but at many power plants, less than a day's coal is left. Can't function on a day's back up," news agency ANI reported.
A government statement had earlier stated, "Due to disruption of power supply from Dadri-II and Unchahar power stations, there may be a problem in 24-hours power supply to many essential institutions, including Delhi Metro and Delhi government hospitals," news agency PTI reported.
As much as 25-30 percent of the electricity demand in Delhi is being met through these power stations, and these stations face a shortage of coal, Jain had said earlier.
Urgent Need to Take Concrete Steps: Delhi CM Kejriwal
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said in a tweet on Friday morning, "There is a huge problem of electricity across the country. Till now in Delhi we have managed in some way. The situation is very serious all over India. Together we all have to find a solution to this soon. There is an urgent need to take concrete steps to deal with this problem."
Jain was also quoted as saying, "These power stations play an important role in preventing blackouts in some parts of Delhi and are also essential to ensure the continuous supply of electricity to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, hospitals, and people in the upcoming summer season."
'Centre Has to Fulfil its Responsibility': Raghav Chadha
Later in the day, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha informed that Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann had met Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi in Delhi a few days ago.
"The latter assured of no coal shortage. Still, more than 16 states including Punjab, are seeing only 1-2 days of coal supply left. Centre has to fulfil its responsibility," he was quoted as saying by ANI.
However, Joshi said AAP has a habit of lying and he never met Mann or Kejriwal.
"AAP's new leader (Raghav Chadha) is very close to the so-called super CM of Punjab (Bhagant Mann) & Arvind Kejriwal. This party has a habit of lying; they have never met me & they're saying that they have, taking my name & spreading lies," he was quoted as saying by ANI.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said this crisis would destroy small industries.
"On 20 April, 2022, I told the Modi government to stop running the bulldozer of hatred & start power plants of the country. Today the coal & electricity crisis has created havoc in the entire country. This crisis will destroy small industries," he was quoted as saying by PTI.
More About the Shortage
The Dadri-II, Unchahar, Kahalgaon, Farakka, and Jhajjar power plants supply 1,751 megawatt (MW) of electricity per day to Delhi. The capital gets the maximum supply of 728 MW from the Dadri-II power station, while it receives 100 MW from the Unchahar station.
According to the daily coal report of the National Power Portal, however, all these power plants face an acute shortage of coal.
However, Joshi informed that the 11 units of Dadri & Unchahar power plants were running at full capacity and had a stock of 2.3 lakh tonnes (of coal), which is replenished on a daily basis. "Coal companies have around 73 mn tonnes of coal stock at their end," he said.
"Thermal power plants have a coal stock of 21.5 million tonnes. There is no need for any panic, we are monitoring the situation, I assure. Whatever stock we have left of 7-10 days all over the country, is being daily replenished," he added.
42 Trains Cancelled for Easier Transport of Coal
Meanwhile, Railways officials said on Friday, 29 April, that 42 trains nationwide had been cancelled indefinitely to allow faster movement of coal carriages to power plants and address the rapidly depleting coal stocks in thermal plants, reported NDTV.
Gaurav Krishna Bansal, an executive director at Indian Railways, told Bloomberg that cancelling the trains was only a temporary move and the train services would be restored as soon as the situation normalised.
Later, ANI reported that the government had decided to cancel 657 Mail, Express and Passenger trains to ensure priority routes for coal wagons and faster turnaround. A total of 533 coal rakes have also been put on duty. For the power sector, 427 rakes were loaded on Thursday. A total of 1.62 million tonnes has been loaded for the power sector.
(With inputs from ANI, PTI, NDTV.)
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