India nears widespread power crunch on coal shortage

Rising prices of fossil fuel leave most plants with only 3-day stockpile

A worker repairs power lines on a pole in Kochi, India. Soaring coal prices caused Indian imports to drop more than 30% in August and September from the average in July. © Reuters

TOMOYO OGAWA, KAZUYA HIRUTA and RYOSUKE HANADA, Nikkei staff writers

October 5, 2021 01:56 JST

TOKYO/MUMBAI -- India stands on the brink of widespread power shortages as most of the country's coal-fired plants have enough fuel for only a few more days, the latest reports show.

More than half of India's 135 coal plants will run out of fuel in less than three days, the Financial Times and Reuters wrote over the weekend, citing government sources. As of Friday, the stockpiles of all coal plants averaged four days.