Centre assures adequate coal for Punjab’s power plant with strong captive mines production

The central government has issued again a clarification regarding the recent ongoing media reports attributing reduced power generation at Punjab's thermal plants to inadequate coal supply.

The Ministry clarifies that adequate coal has been made available to Punjab's power plants, and Coal India Limited (CIL) remains fully committed to ensuring uninterrupted coal supply for power generation across the country, including in the State of Punjab.

Central Government’s support to Punjab's coal supply chain

The Central Government proactively facilitated coal movement to Independent Power Plants (IPPs) in Punjab since the commencement of its captive mine production.

• Supply of coal from PSPCL's captive Pachhwara Central Coal Mine to IPPs enabled, subject to fulfillment of the statutory payment obligation to the State of Jharkhand.
• Utilisation of coal from the Pachhwara Central Coal Mine by IPPs not owned by PSPCL, including Nabha Power Limited (Rajpura) and Talwandi Sabo Power Limited (Mansa), is already allowed up to 50% of annual production after meeting the requirements of Specified End Use Plants. 

Coal India Limited (CIL) support to Punjab and lower PLF (42%) of PSPCL’s plants

PSPCL has three thermal power plants: Guru Hargobind TPS (Lehra Mohabbat), Goindwal Sahib TPP, and Ropar TPS, with an aggregate capacity of 2300 MW. As of 04.09.2026, coal stock at PSPCL’s plants was in the region of 117 percent of the normative requirement, implying availability of coal was more than adequate.

Despite such a comfortable stock position, the average Plant Load Factor (PLF) of PSPCL’s plants during August 2026 was only about 42%. Hence, the low generation during the month is not due to poor availability of coal at the plant end.

In contrast, Nabha Power Limited, an IPP from Punjab, registered a PLF of around 93% during the same period, backed by adequate coal supplies from CIL sources. This shows that availability of coal has not been a constraint for power generation in the state.

IPPs Need to Improve Lifting of Coal Already Offered by CIL

Coal India subsidiaries have proactively offered coal to Punjab-based IPPs, though booking and lifting have lagged:

• CCL offered 5 lakh tonnes (LT) of coal to NPL and TSPL on 30.03.2026 under RCR mode. Of this, only about 4.1 LT has been booked and around 3.1 LT lifted so far.
• BCCL offered 3.5 LT of coal to NPL, against which only around 1.3 LT has been booked and 0.98 LT lifted so far.

Timely lifting of coal by IPPs and better generation performance at PSPCL's own plants are also important for optimizing power generation in Punjab.