Stories
NTPC Turns To Commercial Mines Amid Severe Coal Crisis
M
Moneycontrol•06-10-2026, 23:28
NTPC Turns To Commercial Mines Amid Severe Coal Crisis
- •NTPC Ltd is stepping up coal sourcing from captive and commercial mines to combat severe inventory shortages at its power plants.
- •The company plans to procure 10 million tonnes of coal from commercial mines in the remaining six months of FY27, a record scale for the generator.
- •NTPC plant inventories stood at 4.58 million tonnes as of October 5, which is just 36 percent of the normative requirement and enough for about six days.
- •The broader strategy aims to meet roughly 25 percent of coal needs from captive mines and 8 to 10 percent from commercial mines.
- •Power Secretary Pankaj Agarwal attributed the shortage to heavy rainfall affecting production in mining states alongside sustained high power demand.
Key Questions Answered
To cope with low coal inventories, NTPC plans to procure 10 million tonnes of coal from commercial mines in the remaining six months of FY27, while also ramping up production from its own captive coal mines and maintaining traditional supplies from Coal India Ltd.
Power Secretary Pankaj Agarwal stated that the shortfall is driven by a two-fold issue: rainfall in coal-producing states has affected production, while power demand has remained high in coal-consuming regions.
Instead of forcing plants to blend imported coal or operate gas-based facilities, the government has asked captive power plants to offer their surplus electricity in the power market to bridge shortages.
