Amid concerns over lower coal production and its availability, particularly for power generation, the country has missed the electricity output target of over 830 billion units in last fiscal by over 2 per cent.According to the latest report of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the country had produced 811.13 billion units compared to the ambitious target of 830.76 billion units.
The overall shortfall of 2.4 per cent in the last fiscal, was mainly due to deficit in thermal power generation, which accounts for 65 per cent of the total capacity.
Thermal power generation was just 665 billion units in the last fiscal as against the target of 690.86 billion units. The shortfall is witnessed year after year, due to shortage of coal and delay in providing fuel linkages to thermal plants.
The coal production in the country was 526.15 million tonnes in 2010-11 as against the target of 572.37 million tonnes, registering a shortfall of 8.1 per cent.The coal dispatches are also a matter of concern since just 516.38 million tonnes of the dry fuel was supplied last fiscal, much lower than the targeted supply of 572.61 million tonnes.
Many power projects have been delayed due to uncertainty over availability and supply of coal, especially with the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) categorising 203 coal blocks as 'no go' mining zones.The output from these 203 blocks can generate around 1.3 lakh MW of power per annum as per the estimates of the Coal Ministry.However, the power generation from two other major sources -- hydro and nuclear -- exceeded their last fiscal targets.
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