CHENNAI (Reuters) - India's electricity demand grew 4.9% during the first half of October, with supply falling short of demand by 1.4% despite a 3.2% rise in coal-fired generation and 30% rise in solar output, a Reuters analysis of government data showed.
Increased economic activity after the second wave of the coronavirus has driven up electricity demand, resulting in a supply deficit due to a coal shortage that has forced northern states to cut power this month for up to 14 hours a day.
The rapid surge in power demand and high global coal prices have left utilities scampering for coal - India's dominant source of power generation - despite record supplies from state-run Coal India, a near-monopoly in coal production.
Coal's share in India's electricity generation jumped to nearly 70% during the first fifteen days of October, compared with an average of 66.5% during the whole of September, an analysis of data from federal grid regulator POSOCO showed.
Nearly three-fifths of India's coal-fired capacities currently have coal inventories that would last three days or less, federal power ministry data shows.
The average coal inventory held by power plants would last four days, two-thirds lower than an average of 12 days two months ago.