Amid coal shortage, Power Minister holds meeting to take stock

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Amid news of an imminent coal shortage in the country, R.K. Singh, Union Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy reviewed the performance of REC and PFC Limited. Minister for state Krishan Pal along with other senior officials of the department were also present in the meeting.</p>
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Singh stressed the need to make affordable power available throughout the day. In this context, he stressed the need for improving competitiveness of both institutions with a view to increase their market share, an official statement said.</p>
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The minister has also advised PFC and REC to explore better and cheaper options for raising funds, including from offshore sources, with an overall objective of ensuring that the power sector value chain gets access to cheaper funds.</p>
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Singh has also underlined the need for speedy resolution of stressed assets.</p>
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Meanwhile, stock of coal which contributes to about 70 per cent of the nation’s electricity generation is fast dwindling.</p>
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Narendra Taneja, leading energy expert, told India Narrative that reforms in the coal sector are the need of the hour. “We need to implement the pending reform measures at the earliest to ensure that the sector can function to its capacity,” he said.</p>
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China and many other countries are already in the grip of an energy shortage. While it is critical to keep an eye on the climate goals set under the Paris agreement, energy experts said that the transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy must be done in a calibrated and scientific manner. A hurried and half-hearted approach to switch to renewables by cutting down usage of conventional energy would have far reaching implications and may even be counter-productive.</p>