New Delhi, Nov 4: India has asked coal miners and the railways to help triple the coal stockpiles held at power stations before next summer, as inventories sit near a five-year low, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. The coal, power and railways ministries have jointly set a goal of raising plant inventories from current levels near 18 million tonnes to at least 55 million tonnes by the end of the fiscal year in March, according to people familiar with the matter cited in the report.

Source: Bloomberg via The Hindu BusinessLine

Stockpiles currently amount to about six days of supply, leaving the system vulnerable to disruptions such as Cyclone Arnab last month, the report said. The government typically wants plants to hold about three weeks of supplies, though requirements vary by location, and nearly half of all power stations are at critical stock levels, meaning they hold less than a quarter of what they are required to keep.

The coal crunch has rippled through the economy over recent months, causing blackouts and raising energy costs. Weak hydropower output and heat-driven electricity demand have increased pressure on the grid, while Coal India's prioritisation of supplies to power plants has left factories short of fuel.

Coal India and Indian Railways have stepped up efforts to hit the March target. The state miner's shipments rose to a record last month, exceeding the previous all-time high set in March, with more than four-fifths going to power stations supplying the grid, and production was the highest ever for an October, the company said. In October the railways provided 20 per cent more carriages than a year earlier, and the power ministry wants that to rise by another 7 per cent by March, according to the people cited by Bloomberg.

Prioritising power stations has squeezed other coal users. Businesses that run their own power plants are waiting months for contracted supplies and are being forced to buy coal at higher prices in spot auctions or purchase electricity from the grid, according to Rajiv Agarwal, secretary general of the Indian Captive Power Producers Association. "In the coming weeks, as the smog gets worse, it will disrupt railway traffic and we expect supplies to tighten further," Agarwal said. Vijay Kumar, secretary general of the Indian Newsprint Manufacturers Association, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month seeking his "urgent intervention" to ease the crunch.

Bloomberg reported that the government aims to avoid power shortages ahead of elections in several key states in the first half of next year, including Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous state. Improved supplies and weaker electricity demand have helped stabilise provision in areas including Chhattisgarh, where industries suffered blackouts last month. Separately, the International Energy Agency's Coal Mid-Year Update 2026 expects India's total coal demand to rise 4.2 per cent this year to 1.353 billion tonnes.

Coal India, the country's biggest coal producer, and the ministries of power and railways did not immediately respond to Bloomberg's requests for comment.