More than 63 gigawatts (GW) of thermal power capacity, accounting for over 28 per cent of India’s roughly 224 GW of coal-fired capacity under operation, is facing critically low coal stocks at the plant end averaging at just four days.
According to the latest data from the National Power Portal, a total of 46 thermal power plants (TPPs) with a capacity of 63.72 GW, have critically low coal stocks as of August 26. The coal stocks at these coal-fired plants range from zero days to five days.
The situation is dire for some TPPs that have zero stocks such as the Toranagallu Thermal Power Station in Bellary, Karnataka, which runs on imported coal. Besides, the SASAN Ultra Mega TPP, which gets coal from captive mine, has a single day of stock. Similarly, the Vizag TPP and Butibori TPP, which run on domestic coal, have just two days of coal stocks.
A major reason for the decline in stocks at the plant end is that historically supply gets stretched during monsoon as rains hinder mining activity and mobility. Besides, the coal-bearing States of Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh witnessed heavy rains during August, further impacting transport.
Another reason is that TPPs are burning more coal due to high power demand since April, which has stretched into August, as high heat and humidity is pushing up cooling demand.
For instance, power demand increased by roughly 9.1 per cent year-on-year in April-July 2026 against -0.5 per cent a year ago, said Crisil Intelligence. It added that power demand surged 10.9 per cent y-o-y in July to around 171 billion units — the highest on record for any month — driven by a spurt in usage of cooling equipment amid a rainfall deficit triggered by El Niño. In July, TPPs consumed on an average a record 3.12 million tonnes (mt).
The total coal stocks at the TPP end as of August 26 was roughly 27.63 mt for domestic coal-based plants (daily consumption: 2.93 mt) and around 3 mt for imported coal-based plants (1.88 lakh tonnes). As of July 31, Crisil said that TPPs across India held 38 mt of coal, down from 54 mt in July last year.