To deal with the power crisis, the three ministries of coal, rail, and power formed crisis Group.
Top officials of all the three ministries are involved. There is 24/7 monitoring.
Amidst rising concerns of depleting coal stock in the country, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a high-level meet with Power Minister RK Singh and Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi along with top officials of both the ministries at North Block. The meeting also saw the attendance of by top officials from the National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC).
The 135 large thermal power plants of the country are monitored under the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) unit.
The coal rake is diverted as per the demand. At present, coal reaches about 120 of these plants by goods trains. Railways needs 750 rakes for the supply of goods but it has 100 rakes in reserve.
At present, about 435 rakes i.e. about 4000 tonnes of coal is being transported by the railways every day. It is believed that after reaching these 450 rakes, the coal crisis in the powerhouses will end.
On the other hand, the average speed of goods trains has increased from 24 km per hour to about 46 km per hour two years ago.
Due to less excavation and transportation of coal due to rains, the stock of coal in many power plants of the country has reduced significantly. Due to this, it is also feared that the production of electricity in many plants will be affected.