Most of the thermal power plants in the country are facing an acute shortage of non-coking power grade coal.

Electricity being a major election issue, industry sources said the plants had been asked to step up production to ensure uninterrupted supply in the run up to the polls.

Of the 75 thermal power plants in the country, 32 figured in the critical list, with their coal stock depleting to less than a week's requirement, said BM Nag, chairman and managing director of Mahanadi Coalfield Ltd.

Most of these plants gasping for raw material are located in central and north India -- mainly in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Delhi.

"There is a sudden spurt in the demand for non-coking coal, with most of the thermal power stations having stepped up their production in the recent months," said P Mehta, general manager, sales and marketing of Mahanadi Coalfield.

Out of the 304 million tonnes of coal produced by Coal India Ltd in 2003-04, the thermal power plants and captive power plants together consumed about 90 per cent of the output, at 270 million tonnes. Of this, the thermal plants themselves accounted for 210 million tonnes.

The demand in 2003-04 was 10 to 15 per cent higher than in the previous year, Mehta pointed out.

South Eastern Coalfields Ltd supplies 30 per cent of the power grade coal requirement, while MCL's share stands at 22 per cent.

The power plants' virtually insatiable demand has dried up coal supply to other user industries like cement, sponge iron and paper.

"The situation is such that MCL has turned down the request for coal from other sectors and refunded the deposited money despite prior commitments," complains an official of an Orissa-based sponge iron unit.

Similarly, aluminium major Nalco received 292 rakes of coal from MCL in 2003-04, against its requirement of 312 rakes. A company official pointed out that the shortage threatened to affect the operations of the company, particularly of its Damanjodi plant.

The unavailability of railway rakes for the dispatch of coal from pitheads has also compounded the problems.

"Although the coal output at Talcher is fully booked, we have a stock of 2.1 million tonnes at Ib Valley, we are not able to dispatch them due to the unavailability of rakes," Nag said.