Powercut fears loom in Delhi as ministers call meeting to address energy crisis

Union Power Minister R.K Singh will host members of Delhi's government, BSES and Tata Power in order to discuss provisions to ensure electricity stays on in the city. A severe coal shortage has hit parts of the country due to heavy rains in key coal-mining sectors like Dhanbad and transport woes.

Yesterday, Delhi Power Minister Satyendra Jain warned of the possibility of a power cut in the national capital after two days as stockpiles of coals in electricity plants were diminished, with no new supplies to keep the generators running.

"I am personally keeping a close watch over the situation. We are trying our best to avoid it," Kejriwal said in a tweet today. The Delhi government has also assured the people that it is even willing to purchase electricity at a higher price from other parts of the country to keep the power on.

He also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday saying that there is a coal shortage situation that has affected the power generation plants supplying power to national capital territory and requested him to intervene in the matter.

As India's industries open up for the first time after the pandemic, coal shortages threaten to hamper growth. Coal is even being diverted from industries like aluminium extraction to power stations to offset the deficit.