High coal prices, weak rupee leading to a crisis in power generation firms

Essar, Adani, Tata plants under stress; Gujarat govt sets up panel to help stranded assets

With the cost of imported coal touching a six-year high and rupee weakening against the US dollar, power generation companies are witnessing a crisis of sorts, with Essar group shutting down its 1,200-megawatt (MW) power project and the Adani group utilising only part of its installed capacity in Mundra, Gujarat. 

The only hope, company officials say, is from a high-powered committee set up by the Gujarat government with a mandate to find out how much haircut can be taken by stakeholders, including banks, state electricity boards and promoters, to make power projects viable.

It’s a double whammy. Not only has