India has urged coal miners and railways to help raise coal inventories at power plants threefold ahead of next summer, aimed at preventing shortages that could also intensify tensions with other users of the fossil fuel.

The coal, power and railways ministries jointly targeted lifting stockpiles at power plants from about 18 million tonnes to no less than 55 million tonnes by the end of the financial year in March 2027, Bloomberg reported on November 4, citing people familiar with the matter. That would broadly equal inventories at the same time this year, the people said.

Coal India Limited, India's largest coal producer, and the power and railways ministries had not immediately replied to a request for comment.

The coal shortage has spread across India in recent months, causing outages and driving up energy costs. Poor hydropower generation and heat-driven electricity demand have added strain on the grid, while Coal India's practice of giving priority to power plants has left factories facing fuel shortages.

Coal inventories have recovered gradually over the past two weeks as the weather cooled. However, stockpiles remain close to a five-year low of about six days, exposing the power system to risks such as Cyclone Arnab last month and making preparations for summer harder.

The government usually expects power plants to hold roughly three weeks of fuel, though needs differ by region. Close to half of power plants have critical coal stocks, meaning under a quarter of what is needed.

Coal inventories at 190 coal-fired power plants totaled 20.50 million tonnes as of November 3, up 1.23% week on week, according to the latest data released by the Central Electricity Authority. 91 power plants were running with critical stocks.

The government seeks to prevent electricity shortfalls ahead of elections in several major states in the first half of next year, including Uttar Pradesh, India's largest state by population and an electoral battleground.

Coal India and Indian Railways have stepped up efforts to meet the March goal. The state-run miner's coal offtakes hit a record high last month, surpassing the earlier peak set in March 2026, with over 80% delivered to grid-connected power plants. October coal output was also the highest on record, the company said.

Rail capacity has also expanded. In October, the state-owned transport company supplied 20% more wagons than a year earlier. The power ministry wants a further 7% increase by March 2027, according to the people.

Better supplies and power demand have helped steady electricity provision in areas including Chhattisgarh, where industries experienced outages last month. But giving precedence to power plants has squeezed other coal users.

Firms running their own power plants are waiting months for contracted coal supplies, prompting them to purchase coal at elevated prices in spot auctions or buy electricity from the grid, according to Rajiv Agarwal, secretary general of the Indian Captive Power Producers Association. That could deteriorate with smog in northern India, he said.

Agarwal said that in the coming weeks, as smog worsened, railway traffic would be disrupted and supplies were expected to tighten further.

Manufacturers of paper for newspapers have also seen only slight improvement in coal availability for their operations, according to Vijay Kumar, secretary general of the Indian Newsprint Manufacturers Association. Kumar sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month, asking for his "urgent intervention" to alleviate the shortage by assigning less coal to power plants.