Chandigarh, Oct 10: Power supply situation continued to remain grim in Punjab with the state-owned utility PSPCL on Sunday saying up to three-hour daily power cut will remain in the state till October 13.
Severe coal shortage has forced the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited to cut down power generation and impose load shedding.
Because of depleted coal stock, the coal-fired power plants are operating at less than 50 per cent of their generation capacity, said officials.
While the private power thermal plants have coal stock of up to 1.5 day and the state-owned units have coal for up to four days, said officials on Sunday.
PSPCL Chairman and Managing Director A Venuprasad said the power utility was facing acute coal shortage in all of the coal-based plants situated across the state.
Similar situation is prevailing in the neighbouring states of Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan as well as in other parts of India, he further said.
Venuprasad said the PSPCL is procuring power even at exorbitant rates from the market to cater to the demand from consumers including the agriculture sector.
The PSPCL met maximum demand of 8,788 MW of Punjab on Saturday, he said, adding that about 1,800 MW of power was procured for meeting requirement for Sunday at a rate of Rs 11.60 per unit from the power exchange. (PTI)
