Coal shortages are severely impacting power production, in turn leading to major power cuts in many states of India. This crisis has now started affecting the various industries and the entire supply chain as well, directly as well as indirectly. In the latest, the salt supply from Kutch may be severely disrupted as the Indian Railways is prioritizes imports and supply of coal in order to tackle the power crisis in the country.
In April 2022, demand for electricity is at its highest due to scorching heat but coal reserves are dwindling for months, many states had to suffer hours of power cuts. In an attempt to relieve the situation and offer ease of supply for coal transportation, railways drastically increased the number of rakes allotted to coal. Railways is prioritizing the loading of coal to power sector, which has led to increase in supply of coal by 10 % within a weeks.
The decision by the railways means less number of rakes for the suppl of salt from Kutch to other states. Kutch accounts for more than 75% of salt supply in the country, and thus the disruption in transport may impact availability of salt severely. According to sources, while the Kutch salt manufacturers were allotted 8 rakes earlier, that number has cut down to just 5 for the supply of both industrial and edible salt. The number is likely to decrease further as demand for coal in the country increases.
Kutch produces around 2.86 crore tons of salt every year, both for industrial and edible purposes, and of this nearly 2 crore tons is consumed in the domestic market. These statistics show how much India depends of this region for its salt requirements.
Sources believe that in the long run, if railways does not increase the number of rakes for salt supply, India might have to deal with shortage of salt. However, official insist that the current priority is coal supply and that if Kutch salt manufacturers store the salt they produce, it can be transported when the rains grace India and temperatures drop.
