India makes power plants import coal to avert looming crunch

Sakshi Education

India has brought back requirements for power plants to import some of the coal they are using as it seeks to build stockpiles and avert electricity blackouts over summer.
Generators will have to import 6% of their coal demand by weight through September to maintain “smooth operations," the power ministry said in a note on its website. India is facing a deficit of 24 million tons of the fuel in the six months starting April.
Coal is crucial to India’s economy — it typically generates around 70% of the nation’s electricity — and it’s especially important for power plants to build inventories for the summer when scorching heatwaves lead to heavy air-conditioning use.
The country also mandated purchases from overseas for several months last year, but it’s still a fairly rare move as it runs counter to New Delhi’s aim of greater energy self-reliance.

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