India has increased coal production and canceled passenger trains to free up its rail line, officials said, as the government struggles to overcome its worst electricity crisis in years. State-owned Coal India, which accounts for 80 percent of India’s coal production, increased production by 27.2 percent in April, the federal coal ministry said on Friday. The Federal Government of Indian Railways has canceled 753 passenger train services, the government announced. India has urged its states to increase coal imports for the next three years to rally inventories and meet demand, Reuters reported on Wednesday, stressing the gravity of the crisis. Coal reserves are at their lowest level before summer in at least nine years, and electricity demand seems to be growing at the fastest pace in almost four decades. “The government has decided to cancel … passenger trains in order to give priority to the movement of coal rakes [trains] “across the country to address an unprecedented vital shortage of inputs to thermal power plants,” the government said. He did not say how long the train would be canceled or how passengers would be able to do without it. Coal accounts for almost 75 per cent of India’s electricity generation, and power plants account for more than three-quarters of the annual coal consumption of more than one billion tonnes. Indian Railways loaded 427 coal-fired trains on Thursday, the government said. This is higher than its commitment of 415 trains per day on average, but is still lower than the requirement of 453 trains per day. India’s energy minister said in a court-appointed hearing on Tuesday that the Railways were supplying an average of 390 trains a day, 14 per cent lower than demand and 6 per cent lower than the Railways’ own commitment.
