Calling it “a man-made crisis,” Delhi’s Power Minister Satyendra Jain said that more than half of India’s 135 coal-fired power plants, which supply around 70% of the country’s electricity, have only three days’ stock of coal, not the normally required one-month supply. In Delhi, he said, supplies have come down to one day. “If coal supply doesn’t improve, there will be a blackout in Delhi in two days,” Jain said Oct. 9.
Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Oct. 9 warned of a looming power crisis in the Indian capital of 20 million people due to coal shortages. There have already been power cuts in some Indian states in the east and north. “Delhi could face a power crisis,” Kejriwal tweeted. “I am personally keeping a close watch over the situation.” In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared on social media, Kejriwal said coal shortages had continued for three consecutive months, putting pressure on gas-fired power stations that also did not have adequate fuel.
