Advisory group on power, coal to submit report by 31 October

The Advisory Group, set up under former Power Minister Suresh Prabhu to suggest ways to enhance growth and address regulatory issues in the coal and power sectors, will submit its report to the government by the month end. 'The Advisory Group was given the task of analysing and suggesting measures to address various hurdles in the power and coal sectors,' a senior official said.

The issues include enhancing growth of the coal sector, addressing railway bottlenecks impacting the transportation of the fuel and providing solutions for 24x7 electricity supply. As per the latest official data, 61 thermal power stations, out of the total 103 projects, are grappling with critical coal shortage with less than a week's stock at their disposal. Prabhu was appointed head of this committee in July. The other members of the group are— former Central Vigilance Commissioner Pratyush Sinha, former Home Secretary Anil Baijal and former Coal India Ltd chief Partha Bhattacharya.