India orders coal plants to run at full capacity

India has instructed more than 100 captive coal-fired power plants to run at maximum output from October 1 until the end of the year, according to The Express Tribune, which cited a Reuters report. The order, issued by the federal power ministry under the emergency clauses of the Electricity Act, covers facilities with at least 50 megawatts of installed capacity. Officials expect electricity demand to climb in the coming months, and the directive is dated September 25.

The report says nearly 40% of coal plants already hold critically low fuel stocks, as the El Nino weather pattern pushes temperatures above normal and lifts power consumption. Most of these captive units supply aluminium smelters, steel mills, cement works and oil refineries. Generators have also been told to sell any surplus power through exchanges and to send weekly data on output, captive use, sales, available capacity and coal stocks to the Central Electricity Authority.

The list of 112 plants includes units owned by Vedanta, Tata Steel, Hindalco Industries, JSW Steel, UltraTech Cement, Reliance Industries, Indian Oil, Bharat Aluminium, Hindustan Zinc and Nayara Energy. Separately, the ministry extended an earlier emergency instruction for Tata Power's imported coal plant in Mundra, Gujarat, which must now run at full capacity until December 31. The ministry relies on Section 11 of the Electricity Act, which allows the government to direct generators in extraordinary circumstances.