Punjab looks at dark Diwali as 2 power units run out of coal

However, alarm bells have not yet rung in the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) management, which is claiming that the situation is normal.

“The situation is not critical; rather the coal position is improving,” claims PSEB Member Generation G S Sra, who told The Indian Express that he had just come back from a visit to the coal mines that source the PSEB’s coal supply. He, however, admitted to a delay in coal rakes received by the three plants in Punjab through Railways.

Sources told The Indian Express if supplies of six rakes (train loads) per day do not arrive, the Ropar plant would have to be shut down. Sources say stocks at Ropar plant show 40,000 tonnes — hardly enough for two days.

There are already over 20 thermal power plants across the country on the critical list and chances of Ropar plant getting additional supplies look dim due to incorrect figures on paper.

The Ropar Thermal Plant has a monthly coal consumption of about 6 lakh tonnes, with all its six units running. Of this, 2.5 lakh tonnes is met through captive coal mines of PSEB in Jharkhand and the balance 3.5 lakh tonnes per month is to be supplied from the coal mines of Coal India Ltd, which include Central Coal Fields, Bharat Cooking Coal Ltd in Jharkhand, Western Coal Fields and South Eastern Coal Fields in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

On the other hand, official records indicate that the Bathinda Thermal Plant has two days of stocks left, thus making it eligible to receive “priority coal stocks” to avoid its closure.

Sources say thermal plants are supposed to keep stocks for at least 30 days and stocks should not dip below 15 days, as per norms of the Central Electricity Authority.

However, Ropar Thermal Plant chief engineer, KK Sood refused to comment on the coal stock situation.