Coal Ministry Rejects Inadequate Coal Supply As Cause Of Punjab Power Crisis

(MENAFN- IANS) New Delhi, Sep 13 (IANS) The Ministry of Coal on Sunday clarified that adequate coal has been made available to power plants in Punjab and attributed the state's reduced power generation to factors including low utilisation of its own plants, reported breakdowns at independent power plants and inadequate lifting of coal already offered by Coal India Limited (CIL).

The clarification came after media reports attributed reduced generation at Punjab's thermal plants to plant outages and inadequate coal supply.

The ministry said the government has already enabled coal movement to Punjab's independent power plants (IPPs) from PSPCL's captive mines and that CIL remains committed to ensuring uninterrupted coal supply for power generation in the state.

It said higher utilisation of PSPCL's own plants, monitoring of breakdowns at IPPs and timely lifting of coal offered by CIL subsidiaries would help optimise power generation and address Punjab's requirements.

The ministry said it has enabled supply of coal from PSPCL's captive Pachhwara Central Coal Mine to IPPs, subject to fulfilment of statutory payment obligations to the Jharkhand government.

Coal from the Pachhwara mine can also be used by IPPs not owned by PSPCL, including Nabha Power Limited (Rajpura) and Talwandi Sabo Power Limited (Mansa), up to 50 per cent of annual production after meeting the requirements of specified end-use plants.

The ministry said CIL supplies to Punjab's IPPs remain adequate.

Against Nabha Power's average consumption of around 4.3 rakes per day over the last three days, rake supply averaged around five rakes per day. For Talwandi Sabo Power, against consumption of around 3.8 rakes per day, supply averaged around five rakes per day.

During September 2026 so far, average supply has been around 4.9 rakes per day for Nabha Power and 4.1 rakes per day for Talwandi Sabo Power, higher than their average consumption, it said.

Between April 2026 and September 11, production at the mine stood at 83.67 per cent of the annual target, while despatch was 68.44 per cent of the target.

As of September 11, coal stock at PSPCL's plants stood at around 114 per cent of the normative requirement, indicating adequate coal availability, the ministry said.

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