If the lights switch out in Asia’s third-largest economy, it will be hard to miss
INDIA STANDS on the brink of a nationwide power outage. More than two-thirds of its electricity comes from 135 coal-burning thermal stations, and stockpiles at most of them are perilously low. They often keep stores equal to 30 days’ supply, but last week the average site’s reserve fell to a tenth of that. Some have had to shut down for want of fuel. The country’s 28 state governments are responsible for maintaining the power supply, and many of them are crying out.
Bad weather has made trouble at the same time, as especially late and heavy rainfall in India’s coal belt flooded mines and hobbled transport. Just this week, rains in China’s Shanxi province have compounded that country’s. Which points to a third culprit: prices on the international spot market for coal are at an all-time high. Whereas most of India’s coal supply is domestic, plants on the coast require imported stuff, which the power companies can scarcely afford these days.
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