Threat looms over power supply as coal strike enters third day

The almost unprecedented strike by workers of state-run monopoly Coal India Ltd and its several subsidiaries had shut down about half of CIL's production and dispatches by Tuesday, after several unions normally at antipathy combined to call the biggest strike in the sector in over 40 years.

The strike entered its second day after talks between coal secretary Anil Swarup and the unions in New Delhi failed.

The unions are protesting even the baby steps taken by the Narendra Modi government to privatise coal mining, including the ordinance enabling auction of private coal blocks that was virtually mandated by a Supreme Court order.

The strike will continue its full five-day course as issues haven't been addressed, said S Q Zama, general secretary at the Indian National Mineworkers Federation.

Of the 100 power plants that run on coal, 42 had supplies of less than seven days as of 1 January, according to the power ministry's Central Electricity Authority. Twenty of these plants had less than four days of stock.

Hundreds of union members protested outside Coal India's Kolkata office denouncing the privatisation plans.

''The strike is on,'' R Mohan Das, personnel director at Coal India, the world's biggest producer of the fuel but infamous for its inefficiency, said on Tuesday.

So far however there are no reports of major disruptions in power supply or industry in general, as the CIL management had made special efforts to rush coal to power plants ahead of the strike.