Recent coal crisis opens doors for govts to micro-manage the market

Union power ministry in August decided to limit the stock holding to 15 days, which implied it wanted power plants to stock the bare minimum of what CEA advises

India’s power problems, accentuated by a coal shortage, are a testimony to not just the sector’s dependence on this fossil fuel but also to how fuel availability and its high price could impact the post-Covid-19 economic recovery. Coal supplies to non-power generators have not resumed yet, and companies that still have a substantial number of employees working from home across the country have started to rethink their business continuity plans and look for backup arrangements because of the frequency of power cuts.
 
Though there are captive coal blocks that have been allocated to power companies, generators largely depend on