NEW DELHI: As five trade unions of Coal India Limited (CIL) decided to go ahead with a five-day strike beginning Tuesday against the proposed “process of denationalising of coal sector” and “disinvestment and restructuring of CIL, the coal behemoth is transporting extra coal to thermal power plants to prevent any disruptions in power generation.
The strike is likely to result in production loss of up to 1.5 million tonnes (MT) a day and may hit supplies to power plants that are already grappling with fuel shortages.
Of the total power generation of 253,389 megawatt in India, about 152,310 MW is produced by thermal plants.
As per latest data from the Central Electricity Authority, 20 thermal plants have coal available for less than four days as on January 1.
“Coal India (CIL) is supplying extra volumes of coal to the power plants and the Railways is fully cooperating with the coal PSU,” an official said.
The official further said that CIL is making all efforts to ensure that the power plants do not face coal crunch in view of the strike call given by the trade unions.
All five major trade unions of CIL — BMS, INTUC, AITUC, CITU and HMS — boycotted a meeting called by Coal Minister Piyush Goyal last week.