Chhattisgarh CM questions Centre's denial of coal shortage; says power plants shutting across country

Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], October 11 : Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Monday slammed the Centre for allegedly denying the reports regarding the coal crisis and questioned why power plants are shutting across the country.
"The Centre claims that there is no shortage of coal but power plants are shutting down...Why is it making false claims, coal import has also stopped... this will affect the power supply...What is the Centre doing?" Baghel asked the Central government.
"As far as Chhattisgarh is concerned, I have met with South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), Power, and Railway officers over the supply of coal. They have assured me that there will not be any shortage of coal supply," he added.
Delhi's Power Minister Satyendra Jain, earlier in the day, alleged that the national capital was getting half the electricity it received earlier.
"Delhi used to get 4,000 megawatts of electricity but now it is not getting even half of that.....There is a coal shortage in most of the power plants. The stock of coal in any power plant should not be less than 15 days. The stock is left for only two to three days. The NTPC has capped the production capacity of its plants to 50-55 per cent," Jain told reporters here.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also flagged the issue of probable coal shortage.
"It is true there is a problem. As per our requirement, either we get it from NTPC or from private companies. But the supply is affected now. There are some reasons due to which such a situation has arisen. It is not only in Bihar but also everywhere," Kumar told media persons on Monday.
The Chief Ministers of Punjab, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh have also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking to increase the supply of coal and gas to power plants in their respective states.
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a high-level meeting with Power Minister RK Singh, Coal Minister Prahlad Patel along with top officials of both the ministries in the North Block today.
The high-level meeting was convened a day after the Union Power Minister assured that the supply stock of coal to power plants has exceeded consumption, adding that it will help in improving the fuel stock position gradually.
Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi has also denied allegations of power failure due to a shortage of coal.
The Power Ministry asserted that the Inter-Ministerial sub-group has been monitoring the status of coal reserves twice a week.