Amit Shah chairs meeting with Power, Coal Ministers amid power blackout concern

New Delhi: Amid growing concerns of depleting coal stock in the country, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a high-level meeting with Power Minister RK Singh, Coal Minister Prahlad Patel along with top officials of both the ministries in the North Block on Monday.

The meeting also saw the presence of top officials of National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC).

The high-level meeting was convened a day after the Union Power Minister assured that the supply stock of coal to power plants has exceeded consumption, adding that it will help in improving the fuel stock position gradually.

Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi has also denied allegations of power failure due to a shortage of coal. The Power Ministry asserted that the Inter-Ministerial sub-group has been monitoring the status of coal reserves twice a week.

Delhi: Union Power Minister RK Singh, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi along with officials of Power and Coal Ministry arrive at MHA to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

NTPC officials are also present in the meeting. pic.twitter.com/81ohPHxrAn

— ANI (@ANI) October 11, 2021

Meanwhile, Delhi’s Power Minister Satyendra Jain alleged that the national capital was getting half the electricity it was receiving earlier.

“Delhi used to get 4,000 megawatts of electricity but now it is not getting even half of that…..There is a coal shortage in most of the power plants. The stock of coal in any power plant should not be less than 15 days. The stock is left for only two to three days. The NTPC has capped the production capacity of its plants to 50-55 percent,” Jain told reporters here.

The Chief Ministers of Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking to increase the supply of coal and gas to power plants in their respective states.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said many Chief Ministers have written to the Central government about the critical situation at power plants due to a coal shortage.

“The situation is critical and many CMs have written about it to the Central government. We all are working together to improve the situation,” he said.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also flagged the issue of probable coal shortage.

“It is true there is a problem. As per our requirement, either we get it from NTPC or from private companies. But the supply is affected now. There are some reasons due to which such a situation has arisen. It is not only in Bihar, but also everywhere,” Kumar told mediapersons on Monday.