‘No threat of power supply disruption, Coal India has stock to meet 24 days of demand’ says coal minister Pralhad Joshi | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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‘No threat of power supply disruption, Coal India has stock to meet 24 days of demand’ says coal minister Pralhad Joshi

Written by Srivatsan K C | Edited by Avik Roy, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Oct 10, 2021 04:56 PM IST

“There is sufficient coal stock of 43 million tonnes with @CoalIndiaHQ (Coal India) equivalent to 24 days of coal demand,” Pralhad Joshi tweeted.

Amid the growing concerns about the shortage of coal and its effect on power supply in the country, Union minister of coal Pralhad Joshi on Sunday said that there were no threats to power supply and Coal India Ltd has “sufficient” stock with it. The minister also said that the coal dispatches would increase in the coming days because of the withdrawal of monsoon.

Pralhad Joshi asked people to not fall for fear mongering as the supply of coal is expected to increase following the monsoon’s withdrawal.(Twitter/@JoshiPralhad)
Pralhad Joshi asked people to not fall for fear mongering as the supply of coal is expected to increase following the monsoon’s withdrawal.(Twitter/@JoshiPralhad)

He made the remarks in a tweet following a review meeting regarding the coal production and supply situation in the country.

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Joshi said that Coal India Ltd currently has 43 million tonnes (430 lakh tonnes) of coal stock which would be sufficient to meet 24 days of demand. “Assuring everyone that there is absolutely no threat of disruption in power supply. There is sufficient coal stock of 43 million tonnes with @CoalIndiaHQ (Coal India) equivalent to 24 days of coal demand,” he tweeted.

Further, the minister also asked people to not fall for fear mongering as the supply of coal is expected to increase following the monsoon’s withdrawal.

“Thermal power plants have rolling stock being replenished with daily supply. Moreover, with the withdrawal of monsoons, coal despatches are set to rise in the coming days thereby increasing coal stocks. Reiterating, there is sufficient coal stock, do not fall for fear mongering,” he said in a subsequent tweet.

Earlier in the day, the Union ministry of coal said in a statement that any fear about the disruption of power supply was “entirely misplaced” and the coal stock at power plants was at 72 lakh tonnes which was sufficient to meet four days of requirement.

Also read | 'Acts of irresponsible behaviour creating panic': Power minister refutes reports of coal shortage

The ministry further said that the domestic coal based power generation grew by nearly 24% this year, till September 2021, based on a robust supply from the coal companies. Also, the average daily coal requirement at the power plants was about 18.5 Lakh tonnes and the daily supply was around 17.5 lakh tonnes, the ministry added.

“Due to extended monsoons the despatches were constrained. The coal available at the power plants is a rolling stock which gets replenished by the supplies from the coal companies on a daily basis. Therefore, any fear of coal stocks depleting at the power plant end is erroneous. In fact this year, domestic coal supply has substituted imports by a substantial measure,” the ministry added.

Union power minister RK Singh too, on Sunday, denied any possibilities of a power crisis in the country. “In effect, neither there was, nor was there any crisis. It was created unnecessarily. I've warned Tata Power CEO of action if they send baseless SMSs to customers that can create panic. Messages by GAIL & Tata Power qualify as acts of irresponsible behaviour,” news agency ANI quoted the minister as saying after he met with the officials of power ministry, BSES and Tata Power at this residence.

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