India is being forced to delay its plans to expand its electricity production by nearly 50% due to a coal shortage, which is threatening to undermine the country's economic growth.
About two-thirds of India's generating capacity of 145.6 gigawatts is fuelled by coal.
The Indian government has been unable to allocate coal to new power plants that are meant to generate more than 60 gigawatts of additional electricity, Power Secretary Anil Razdan told reporters.
As a result, power generators including Tata Power and Reliance Energy are looking abroad for coal supplies, chiefly from South Africa and Indonesia.
The growing gap between India's coal demand and domestic production, which the government expects to increase to 49 mt by 2012, is also forcing its coal companies to turn to imports. State-run Coal India Ltd, the country's biggest coal producer, will make its debut as an importer this fiscal year, with plans to buy 4 mt.
