The Delhi government on Saturday attacked the Centre over the looming power crisis in the national capital due to the shortage of coal.

Delhi Power Minister Satyendar Jain said that there is a possibility of politics in the energy crisis and it appears to be a man-made crisis similar to the oxygen shortage that gripped the country during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We have 3.5 times more production capacity than what we require and still, we aren’t able to produce power,” he added.

Appealing to the Central government to look into the matter, the minister said there is a coal shortage even when production plants are not running at full capacity.

Satyendar Jain went on to add, “We have a Power Purchase Agreement where they are giving us half of the electricity. We have come to point of rationing.”

Jain said that Delhi does not have any coal plant of its own, the national capital has only small plants which produce gas. “We have a 1300 MW plant in Bawana, which runs on gas, where the gas supply was stopped yesterday. And the national capital does not have any coal plant of its own. Only three small plants are there which produce gas,” he said.

He stated that at present Delhi is dependent upon the Centre’s plant which is provided when we demanded power supply. “After two days, there will be a complete blackout in the whole Delhi, if we do not receive more power supply from the Centre,” Jain added.

In order to resolve the power crisis in Delhi, Jain said that the government is ready to buy expensive electricity at present.