The year gone by ended on a dismally for power sector as over 34 thermal plants struggled with generation due to short supply of coal.

As many as 34 power plants in the country had fuel stock for less than a week as on December 30, according to the latest Central Electricity Authority data.

As many as eight stations in the northern region comprising Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan faced severe fuel scarcity mainly on account of inadequate availability of domestic coal, CEA said.

In the western region (Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra), 13 power stations suffered on account of fuel shortage.

Maharashtra was worst hit as seven of the 10 power stations were hit by fuel shortage. Five power plants in the Southern region comprising Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala faced scarcity mainly on account of less receipt from Mahanadi Coalfields, a unit of Coal India.

Power generation at eight power stations in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, in the eastern region, took a hit due to less receipt of fuel from Coal India.

Meanwhile, the Power Ministry and Coal Ministry are working in tandem to deal with the problem of fuel shortage.

The long pending issue of signing of the Fuel Supply Agreements (FSAs) between power companies and Coal India, which may solve the problem of shortage to an extent, would be done soon as has been assured by Power Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.

“We will be able to resolve the issues and make sure that between the Coal Ministry, Power Ministry and all other stakeholders in both these sectors, we will come out with a framework that is fair and equitable for all concerned,” Scindia had said after his meeting with the private power generation companies, last month.

The Association of Power Producers had submitted to the Power Ministry a slew of proposals, including pass through of imported coal prices into tariffs and ensuring 100 per cent fuel supplies from Coal India.

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