Many power plants in India, including those owned by Adani Power and Tata Power, use imported coal but are not operating at full capacity, posing challenges in meeting their electricity demand amid the country’s ongoing heat wave. are increasing.
Various places in India have been reeling under severe heatwave conditions for the past few weeks, with maximum temperatures reaching 42-44 degrees Celsius in parts of central, northwest, east and north India on Saturday.
India initially said in February that these plants were to operate at full capacity by June 15, as the government sought to maximize production ahead of an expected record increase in electricity use during the summer.
The order issued by the Ministry of Power on Monday said, “It has now been decided to extend the time period for imported coal-based generators till September 30.”
The order has been sent to JSW Ratnagiri Limited, Essar Power Gujarat Limited and 13 other factories with a total capacity of 17 GW.
The India Meteorological Department said in a press release on Sunday that heatwave conditions are “very likely” to continue in parts of several states over the next five days, including the national capital New Delhi.
(Reporting by Sarita Chaganti Singh, Writing by Sakshi Dayal, Editing by Kim Coghill and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)