Data released by energy officials in India shows that more than half of the country’s coal-fired power units are operating with low stockpiles of fuel, as power demand surges and generation from other resources lags.
The country’s Central Electricity Authority (CEA) on October 19 said 96 coal-fired units have critically low amounts of coal on hand. That’s up from 60 coal-fired units that were running with low fuel stocks a month earlier.
Officials said total stockpiles of coal at the nation’s power stations had dropped by about 5% since the start of October. Hotter-than-normal temperatures, linked to the El Niño weather pattern, were driving up demand for electricity, officials said. The government’s coal ministry earlier this month said it told suppliers to increase shipments of fuel to coal-fired plants.
The CEA said that last month the gap between electricity demand and supply increased to 560-million kilowatt-hours, the highest level since August 2023. Bloomberg on October 19, citing sources familiar with the discussions, reported that government officials will hold off on a proposal that would ask coal-fired power plant operators to import more coal. The report said officials had considered asking operators to mix imported coal with domestic supplies to help increase fuel stockpiles, but higher prices for imported coal and a weaker rupee (India’s official currency) pushed that plan aside.
The Indian government has ordered more than 100 coal-fired power plants to run at full capacity from October 1 until at least the end of the year to help meet higher demand for electricity.
A research group last fall said several areas of India were withdrawing support for renewable energy projects and preparing to invest in more coal-fired power generation. in Uttar Pradesh, the state that is home to much of the country’s population, along with authorities in Assam state had made bids to acquire as much as 7 GW of coal-fired power output that would be delivered in the coming years, according to India Ratings & Research. That agency offers credit rating and research services in that country.
The group said those bids come after more than 17 GW of coal-fired generation capacity was contracted from early 2024 through July of last year.
The electricity agency said daily peak power demand this year has been about 45 GW to 50 GW higher year-over-year, and said lower output from India’s hydropower plants due to less rainfall during the monsoon season has brought the need for thermal power stations to produce more electricity. The CEA said coal-fired power generation in September was up 13.3% for the month year-over-year, while hydro output was off 20% from a year earlier.
Government data shows about 55% of India’s power generation comes from resources other than fossil fuels. Officials have said, though, a lack of battery energy storage to support intermittent renewable energy has meant a greater reliance on coal-fired units across the country.
The International Energy Agency in its Coal Mid-Year Update 2026 published in September said India will see a 4.2% rise in its total coal demand to 1.353-billion tons this year. The agency attributed the rise, which comes after coal demand fell in 2025, is due to higher power demand and oil and gas disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz.
—Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER.
