Overview
- Rolling blackouts are now hitting households and small factories across parts of India, with some villages seeing up to seven hours of daily cuts and mini steel mills reporting 10–12 hour outages.
- Government data show more than 40% of operational coal-fired power plants had critically low coal inventories at the end of September, leaving generation strained.
- The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air reported that by October 1, 85 power plants held less than 25% of their normative coal requirement, signaling deeper pressure on the supply chain.
- Factories are cutting output and switching to costly backup diesel generators, which raises operating costs and increases safety risks from repeated machinery stoppages.
- Rail delays and heavy rain in mining regions have disrupted coal delivery while Coal India has prioritized supplies to grid stations, driving up spot-auction premiums and creating the risk of wider economic strain if high demand and low hydropower persist.