Critical coal shortages hit aluminium plants in India

18 Oct 2021 CW Team

On Friday, industry body AAI warned that the aluminium plants in the nation are grappling with a severely low level of coal stocks and if the fuel supply is not resumed quickly it would result in irrevocable collateral damage.

The statement comes when the coal supply by the CIL to non-power sectors has stopped tentatively amid electricity-producing facilities in the nation meeting fuel shortages.

The Aluminium Association of India (AAI) told the media that the aluminium industry has not received any support concerning the continuing coal supply crisis. Indian aluminium facilities are grappling with severely low levels of coal stock, with no support or alternative means to reach their power requirements and keep the plants operational.

Any power outage in aluminium facilities will result in a catastrophic impact and complete shutdown, which will take a minimum of 12 months of recovery, leading to job loss of over 8 lakh people. Banks will have debt exposure of more than Rs 1 lakh crore and an additional national forex loss of Rs 90,000 crore.

Aluminium generation is a 24x7, 365 days constant process industry. There is no term to switch off and switch on. It is a highly power-intensive industry. One tonne of aluminium needs 14,500 units of continuous power which is 15 times in contrast to steel and 145 times for cement.

It additionally said that Coal India should quickly restore continuous coal supply to the aluminium industry to prevent the closure of the plants, it added.

Image Source

Also read: Coal shortages lead 13 thermal power plants to shut down ops

Real Estate

30 Jul 2026

AI: The New Recruit

From getting ideas to evaluating designs, presenting concepts to clients and tracking projects, artificial intelligence (AI) is helping architects work better and faster.“AI allows architects to spend more time doing what only they can do: think critically, synthesise complexity and design with intent,” says Dikshu C Kukreja, Managing Principal, CP Kukreja Architects. “Every minute reclaimed from repetitive processes can be invested in creativity, contextual understanding, interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation – the qualities that define meaningful architecture.”To read the ..

Redevelopment 2.0

In 2017, Mumbai identified 160,000 ageing buildings due for structural audit. Close to half of these were in the Western Suburbs. Redeveloping the oldest and structurally weakest of these would help unlock new housing, much needed given the city’s growing population density and constant developed area of 437.7 sq km. At 30,600 people per sq km in 2024, Mumbai’s density was almost thrice that of Gurugram, and 60 per cent higher than Bengaluru’s.Essentially, Mumbai’s realty market has demand. It has capital. It has realty development potential.Fast forward to 2026. Mumbai has 1,094 regis..

Cost intelligence will become a strategic contributor to project success

As India's construction industry accelerates its digital transformation, integrated platforms, AI and connected data are becoming essential to improving cost certainty, project efficiency and sustainability. Ravi Kumar, Sales Director – India, RIB Software India, shares how digital workflows are reshaping project planning, commercial management and decision-making across the construction value chain.India's construction sector is embracing digital technologies at an unprecedented pace. From your perspective, what are the biggest shifts driving this transformation and how is RIB Software enab..