Coal shortage and heatwave spark India\`s power woes

Power cuts and outages have rippled across India since the beginning of April_ slowing factories_ closing schools_ and sparking protests.

Every two in three households said they were facing power outages_ according to more than 21_000 people in 322 districts of the country surveyed by polling agency LocalCircle. One third of the households reported outages of two hours or more every day.

At least nine states are suffering from prolonged outages. Shortage of coal has appeared as the main reason behind the power shortage.

India is the second-largest producer and consumer of coal in the world. Three-quarters of the electricity produced uses the fossil fuel. India possesses the world's third-highest reserves of coal.

In October 2021_ India faced a power crisis when stocks at more than half of its 135 coal-fired plants ran critically low_ or below 25% of normal levels. Now_ 108 of its 173 power plants are facing crisis in coal stocks. The Ukraine war has accelerated global prices of coal and natural gas_ making imports tough. Moreover_ an earlier-than-expected heatwave in northern and central India has pushed demand for electricity to record levels.

The Modi government says_ it is doing its best to ensure power supplies. The world's largest coal miner Coal India has increased production by 12%. It also supplied 49.7 million metric tonnes of coal to the power generating companies in the last month_ a 15% rise over the same month of 2021. The Indian railways have cancelled over thousand passenger trains to transport more coal.

The South Asian country has promised to increase renewable-energy capacity to 450 gigawatts by the end of this decade to reduce its dependence on coal.

Yet_ India's coal is high in ash - at least 35% - which makes it very polluting. According to Greenpeace_ coal emissions kill more than 100_000 Indians per year.