New Delhi, May 9 (Agency) Amid concerns of shortage of coal and rising demand for power, Union Minister for Coal Pralhad Joshi on Monday held a meeting with the Ministry of Railways to ensure increasing rake availability to supply coal to thermal plants. In a tweet, Joshi mentioned that in-depth discussion was held with Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
“Deliberated on boosting coal availability and rake supply to thermal plants,” the minister said in his tweet. According to the data available on the POSOCO website, the maximum demand met on May 8, 2022 was 189239 MW. The data showed that states including Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand witnessed energy shortage at 1.48 MU (million units), 1.69 MU, 9.46 MU and 3.29 MU, respectively. In order to ensure adequate supplies of coal to thermal plants, the railway ministry recently notified cancellation of nearly 670 trips of passenger trains till May 24. The Railways has also increased the average daily loading of coal rakes to more than 400.