Nearly 40% of India’s coal power plants running critically low on fuel, data show

Nearly 40% of India’s coal-fired power plants ​are operating with critically low fuel stocks due ‌to a surge in power demand amid ​hotter-than-usual weather linked to El Niño, ⁠government data showed on Monday (September 21, 2026).

The number of power plants with critically low coal stocks of ‌less than 25% of the required inventory or only able to generate ‌power for less than three days ‌rose ⁠sharply to 74 as of September 19 ⁠from about 60 plants last week, data from the Central Electricity Authority that is updated daily showed.

India’s ​peak power demand, ‌a measure of the maximum electricity requirement, has been hovering between 230 gigawatts and 250 gigawatts in the past week.

Peak ‌power demand hit an all-time high ​of 270.70 gigawatts in May.