20 lakh tonnes of coal is supplied against the requirement of 11 lakh tonnes

New Delhi: Union Coal Minister Prahlad Joshi has categorically ruled out the possibility of a power crisis due to shortage of coal in the country's power plants. "The daily requirement of coal for power generation is 1.1 million tonnes and against that we are supplying 2 million tonnes, so where is the crisis," he said. He was speaking to reporters after arriving at Vilaspur airport. Asked if the Congress was creating unnecessary hype over the coal crisis, he said, "I don't want to do any politics on this issue."

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaram has termed the report on coal shortage as baseless. He insisted that there was no coal roof. India is a power surplus country. Sitaram said that Energy Minister RK Singh had two days ago termed such talk as baseless.

Joshi himself has visited the Gevra, Deepaka and Kusmundra mines of South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) in Korba district, a subsidiary of SECL Coal India. Joshi said they would visit the mine and discuss ways to increase production by reviewing the situation.

He said that as far as the need is concerned, the energy ministry has demanded a supply of 1.9 million tonnes and 20 lakh tonnes after October 30. Today we supplied 2 million tonnes of coal.

The PMO on Tuesday also reviewed the state of coal supply and power generation in the country. The government took this step following the power crisis in some states.

The coal ministry has been asked to increase its supply and the railways have also been asked to keep its racks available to supply fuel to power plants. Even today, 70 per cent of power plants in India run on coal. Two-thirds of the country's power plants have enough coal to last a week or less. Power cuts have been imposed from Rajasthan to Kerala. But the coal ministry said any doubts about the power supply were unfounded.