As of Oct 4, media reported India’s coal-fired power plant inventories were near a five-year low: about 69 plants, representing over 40% of national coal-fired capacity, had coal stocks sufficient for four days or less. Unseasonably high October temperatures and patchy rainfall have kept cooling, irrigation and industrial electricity demand elevated. Coal deliveries are being disrupted by heavy rains that have halted some mines and by persistent rail-transport bottlenecks, forcing plants to draw

As of Oct 4, media reported India’s coal-fired power plant inventories were near a five-year low: about 69 plants, representing over 40% of national coal-fired capacity, had coal stocks sufficient for four days or less. Unseasonably high October temperatures and patchy rainfall have kept cooling, irrigation and industrial electricity demand elevated. Coal deliveries are being disrupted by heavy rains that have halted some mines and by persistent rail-transport bottlenecks, forcing plants to draw down on-site inventories. The low stockpiles raise the risk of widespread outages.