Coal demand is rising due to fires at multiple coal plants, stronger demand for power due to global heat waves, and lower coal supplies.

Apart from the soaring temperature, improvement in economic activity also contributed to the increased demand for power. At the national level, power demand increased 8 per cent on-year to 152 billion units (BU) in June, following up on a sharper 14 per cent on-year growth in May.

As per a report by CRISIL, the power consumption in the north-eastern, eastern and western regions increased 8.3, 7.8 and 3.5 per cent on-year, respectively. While the rest of the country demanded power, the power demand in southern states interestingly declined 5.1 per cent.

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India's heat wave is putting increased demand on their coal burning power plants which generate 70% of the country's energy while decreasing the available hydro power.

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It is further expected that the situation is unlikely to improve pan-India despite the fact that southwest monsoon is arriving early this year. Infact, data from 724 districts between June 1 and July 4 shows that 38 per cent of the districts received deficient rainfall.