Due to a short supply of coal from Mahanadi Coalfields (MCL) mines, 1,200 MW Nalco Captive Power Plant (CPP) is going through a coal crisis.

As you know, Trump had announced that the USA will withdraw from the nuclear deal citing the National Security Memorandum where he said that he was going to put back the economic sanctions against Iran.

India's state utility companies make losses of $9 billion annually. While raising tariffs for consumers or farmers is an option - it remains unlikely given upcoming elections or political pressure.

India's power sector is in a catch-22 situation. A sound analysis of the power sector affirms that the sector is in the ICU where 78,000 MW of projects are under stress; and approximately Rs 1,200 billion worth unviable projects and PPAs are signed for a mere 7,000 MW.

While Green Energy Corridor may enhance transmission grid to a greater extent, the evacuation issues faced by the renewable energy segment may not get fully resolved in the near future.

There is a revolution that is sweeping the energy sector globally and in India. The balance now seems to be conclusively tilting towards renewable energy. And, this development is not entirely due to government subsidies, but because these sources of energy are financially viable on their own.

Essar Power has decided to surrender the Tokisud North coal block in Jharkhand. The company has already invested Rs 490 crore in the project. The move which comes in the backdrop of facing delays in key approvals and sudden change in tariff terms, will cripple the company's 1,200-MW Mahan plant in Madhya Pradesh.

A Mechanical Engineer by qualification, Gurdeep Singh, CMD, NTPC, has over 28 years of experience in power generation sector. He started his career with NTPC and has worked at various levels in both Indian and multi-national companies such as Powergen, CLP, IDFC, CESC and AES.

The power sector, over a period of six months, has witnessed large scale investments in the power generation segment leading to an increase in the installed capacity to 329 GW as on September 30, 2017 from 132 GW as on March 31, 2007.