Coal Crisis Could Last 6 Months, Warns Power Minister

Coal Shortage: Coal plants accounting for between 40 gigawatts to 50 gigawatts of capacity currently have less than three days' of fuel stocks.

India could face as long as six months battling to ensure coal-fired power plants have enough fuel as the nation's energy crisis escalates.

More than half the nation's plants are on alert for outages after surging electricity demand and a slump in local coal output eroded stockpiles. Power stations had an average of four days' worth of coal at the end of last month, the lowest level in years, and down from 13 days at the start of August.

"I don't know whether I will be comfortable in the next five to six, four to five months," Power Minister Raj Kumar Singh was quoted as telling The Indian Express in an interview published Tuesday. While demand does typically slow with cooler weather from mid-October, "it's going to be touch and go," he said.

In at least a portion of India's coal fleet the situation has deteriorated in the past week, according to Mr Singh. Coal plants accounting for between 40 gigawatts to 50 gigawatts of capacity currently have less than three days' of fuel stocks, he told the newspaper. That compares to a total national coal capacity of about 203 gigawatts.