Uttar Pradesh is facing a power shortage

Uttar Pradesh has been struggling with acute power shortage, as it battles with severe heatwave and powerhouses suffer from scarcity of coal. In UP, the demand for electricity skyrocketed to an all-time high level of 23000 megawatts per day whereas currently, the supply is less than 20000 megawatts.

The situation is further worsened because of the shortage of railway racks for the supply of coal. To resolve this, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered officials to use road transport for the supply. Additionally, the employees of the power corporations has been asked to work extra hours to maintain supply.

After the union government’s guidelines for the purchase of imported coal to run thermal power generating plants, UP would have spent Rs 11000 crore more on it. According to the energy department’s official, the purchase of imported coal would prove to be an additional burden of Rs 11000 crore on the already cash-starved power corporation.

Meanwhile, Arvind Sharma, the Energy Ministry of the State has requested the officials of UP Power Generation Corporation Limited (UPPGCL) to make use of road transport networks for the supply of coal rather than solely relying on the railway. He further informed that coal would be transported for UP’s biggest thermal power plant at Anpara through the road. This power plant in UP produces a maximum of 2360 megawatt power every day.