UP power shortage not due to coal availability, says coal ministry

NEW DELHI: Dismissing reports of disruption in coal supply as a reason for the power shortage in Uttar Pradesh, the coal ministry on Thursday said none of the thermal plants in the state was in the “critical” category and that daily fuel supplies since Sept 1 had exceeded the average consumption.The ministry also said that despite a captive coal mine being allocated to Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (UPRVUNL) in Jharkhand 11 years ago, the state-run power generation company had made no progress in operationalising it.According to reports, Uttar Pradesh is grappling with a power shortage of 2,000-3,000 MW, attributed to disrupted coal supplies due to heavy rainfall and waterlogging in coal-producing areas, along with outages at multiple power generation units. While the state’s peak power demand crossed 30,750 MW, reports suggested that Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited had managed to supply up to 27,000 MW.The Centre said Coal India Limited continued to meet the state’s fuel requirement.“As on 15.09.2026, none of the thermal power plants of Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (UPRVUNL) is in the critical-stock category. The current stock position, therefore, does not indicate any critical coal availability constraint at the plant end,” the ministry said in a statement.It added that UPRVUNL was allocated the Saharpur Jamarpani coal block in Jharkhand’s Dumka district, holding reserves of more than 973 million tonnes, in Aug 2015, specifically to meet the coal requirement of its thermal power projects.“More than ten years since the allotment, no progress has been made towards operationalisation of the block, on account of a lack of requisite initiative by UPRVUNL. As a result, the entire coal requirement of Uttar Pradesh’s power plants continues to be met by CIL,” the ministry said, adding that 14 other coal blocks allotted for captive use in the power sector after Aug 2015 had commenced coal production for their respective end-use plants.The coal ministry said Uttar Pradesh needed to take steps to develop the Saharpur Jamarpani block to reduce dependence on external sources for coal supplies and secure long-term fuel security for its power plants.It also said the current stock of coal at UPRVUNL’s thermal power plants stood at 8.4 lakh tonnes, up from 7.3 lakh tonnes on Sept 1. The average daily coal supply stood at 0.9 lakh tonnes, against average daily consumption of around 0.8 lakh tonnes, reflecting a continuing build-up of stock.The ministry also claimed that constraints in unloading at various plants had led to restrictions on the deployment of rakes by the Railways, limiting further augmentation of coal supplies. It added that despite the rise in coal stocks, the current-month plant load factor (PLF) of UPRVUNL’s thermal power plants stood at only around 48%.“The lower generation during the current month cannot, therefore, be attributed to inadequate coal availability at the plant end. Improvement in generation would require the State to address operational constraints at its generating stations and ensure optimal utilisation of available coal stock,” the ministry said.Get the latest Business News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.