India’s coal power plants are running with critically low fuel inventories, according to daily data from the Central Electricity Authority. As of September 19, 74 plants have coal stocks that are low enough to limit generation to under three days, up from about 60 plants the previous week.
The reporting also frames the issue in terms of inventory thresholds tied to required fuel levels. One dataset referenced by outlets says the plants have less than 25% of the required coal inventory or can generate power for less than three days. The two sources align on the scale of the worsening—nearly 40% of plants in the cited set—and on the week-over-week increase, but they focus on slightly different ways of describing the “critical” threshold.
