India’s power plants are rapidly exhausting coal inventories as generators increase production to offset weak hydropower and the evening decline in solar generation. The pressure has prompted the central government to invoke an emergency provision aimed at boosting electricity supplies during periods of tight demand and supply.

The power ministry has directed companies with more than 50 MW of captive coal-generation capacity to operate their plants at full capacity and sell surplus electricity through power exchanges. The order covers companies in sectors including steel, fertilisers, oil refining and cement that operate in-house plants to supply their factories.

The ministry has also extended a directive requiring Tata Power’s 4 GW Gujarat plant to operate at full capacity through December. Coal inventories at grid-connected stations have fallen by more than half from a year earlier, reaching their lowest level in almost three years. Captive generation remains relatively small compared with independent coal plants, which provide about 70 per cent of India’s electricity.

The measures follow some of India’s worst nighttime power shortages this year. A dry monsoon associated with El Niño reduced hydropower generation, while demand for cooling and irrigation increased. Shortfalls after sunset, when solar generation declines, reached 7.7 GW this month, exceeding levels recorded during the summer heat waves and forcing coal plants to consume more fuel.

India is experiencing its driest monsoon in 17 years, although recent rainfall has narrowed the deficit to 13 per cent from 15 per cent in the middle of last week. Heavy rain and cooler temperatures have reduced peak demand and largely eliminated supply shortfalls, but flooding in coal-producing Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand has disrupted mining and transport. The government invoked Section 11 of the Electricity Act for captive generators and Tata Power’s Mundra plant, allowing it to direct stations to operate in extraordinary circumstances, including natural calamities.