agencies
NEW DELHI, Apr 21: "Thermal plants across the country are grappling with a coal shortage as the power demand in the states has increased."
Concerns of a power crisis are looming large as India faces a coal supply shortage amid a scorching summer. Thermal plants across the country are grappling with coal shortages, indicating a looming power crisis in the country, the All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) warned. This, coupled with soaring temperatures that have led to an increase in the demand for electricity, has caused several states to cut power supply in households daily. The blackouts are long as eight hours in certain states.
"Thermal plants across the country are grappling with a coal shortage as the power demand in the states has increased, and a number of states are not able to bridge the gap between demand and supply because of insufficient coal stocks at thermal plants," AIPEF spokesperson VK Gupta said in a statement.
Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab and Jharkhand are among the states facing widespread power cuts due to coal scarcity. In the first half of April 2022, the domestic power demand hit a 38-year high for the month. While there was 1.1 per cent power shortage in October 2021, this shortfall shot up to 1.4 per cent in April 2022, AIPEF Chairman Shailendra Dubey said.
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