Power crisis: Warning of blackout in Delhi if coal supply not restored in next 2 days

Other states including Tamil Nadu and Odisha are also going through long power cuts due to shortage of coal in power plants.


The national capital may witness blackout in the next two days if the coal supplies to the power plants are not restored, Delhi Power Minister Satyendra Jain said on Saturday. He said that the coal-fired power plants that supply electricity to the national capital have to keep a minimum coal stock of one month, but now it has come down to one day.

Other states including Tamil Nadu and Odisha are also going through long power cuts due to shortage of coal in power plants. According to the data from the central grid operator, over half of India's 135 coal-fired power plants, which overall supply around 70 per cent of the country's electricity, have less than three days of fuel stocks left, reported Reuters earlier this week.

Mr Jain urged the Centre to send railway wagons with coal to the power plants as soon as possible as all plants are already running with 55 percent capacity, he claimed. Reportedly, he alleged that the coal crisis also looks like "man-made" which is similar to the medical oxygen crisis during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr Jain added that the national capital is not a power producer and all three companies in Delhi are distributors. He further added that Delhi is dependent on the centre's plants for coal supply. 

The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now.