A four-day strike by contractual workers at Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd’s Talcher coal mines in Odisha, starting April 18, resulted in a loss of around 1 million tonnes of production and dispatch of coal to power plants at a time when electricity demand has risen on the back of soaring temperatures.
The contractual workers, at one of the biggest coal mines in the country, went on strike demanding more compensation which led to a halt in production and evacuation.
“There was a panic, but things have been resolved,” said one person aware of the details.
The strike followed a day after India witnessed a record high power ‘demand met’ of 215.9 GW on April 17. Demand had increased from April 10 onwards with higher maximum temperatures in many parts of the country.
Securing coal stock at power plants turned out to be the focus as demand continued to surge till April 21 with the country facing erratic weather conditions this summer.
Talcher mines, in Angul, is one of the largest in the country with about 52 billion tonnes of coal resources, which is 15% of the total projected coal resources in the country. It is expected to produce about 200 million tonnes in FY25 and about 300 million tonnes by FY30.
The mines currently produce 300,000 tonnes per day and supply power mostly to Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, NTPC Kaniha and some western and northern power plants as well.
It also supplies coal to the National Aluminium Company Ltd for its captive consumption through a merry-go-round transport system.
