Electricity Board officials have warned that if the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board does not import coal immediately, there will be 15 hour power outages similar to those in 2011 and 2012.
Thermal power plants in Tamil Nadu require 72,000 metric tons of coal for daily power generation. With a daily production of 4320 MW of electricity, the Central Government Coal Company relies on imports of 20,000 metric tonnes of coal as only 50,000 metric tonnes is available.
The Tamil Nadu Electricity Board has been importing coal from Indonesia since 1990. In this situation, the policies of the Central Government regarding the import of coal are changed from time to time.
Meanwhile, domestic coal costs Rs 3.5 per unit. But with foreign coal it costs 7 rupees per unit. In this context, the yearly requirement of 20,000 lakh metric tons of coal has forced the Tamil Nadu government to immediately import coal.
Electricity officials have warned that otherwise there will be 12 to 15 hours of power outages, similar to those in 2011 and 2012.
