As the monsoon comes to a close, coal-based power generators fear that the coal supply situation will be a repeat of last year's. In a month, hydropower generation will go down and pressure will mount on thermal power plants to meet the daily power demand of around 175,000 Mw. The average coal supply currently stands below optimal at 10 days on an average. In September last year, the coal supply at thermal stations was average 10 days, while the peak power demand was 160,000 Mw. It is not that the power demand has grown suddenly since the six per cent annual growth is steady. India's national and largest thermal power producer, NTPC, has decided to import coal in the wake of unreliability in coal supply over the past two years. R K Singh, minister of state for power and new & renewable energy, recently said his ministry has allowed all power producers to import coal as the domestic situation would remain poor. In two tenders issued by the company, it has called for bids to supply 2.5 million tonnes of imported coal for its various plants situated across the country. NTPC had used imported coal last in 2013-14. Senior company officials said the current coal supply is mismatched to demand. "While some of the non-pithead (away from mines) plants have more than 25 days of coal, some of the pithead plants are struggling for optimal coal supply," said an executive requesting anonymity.
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