Pralhad Joshi calls Rahul a ‘fake astrologer’ over his comment on the coal crisis

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Friday launched a scathing attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his recent remark on India’s coal crisis and said he had become a “fake astrologer” these days. this.

“Rahul Gandhi has become a fake astrologer these days. Instead of saying what is going to happen due to the shortage of coal in the country, he should tell the country how much coal scam has happened under his government and how many losses the country has suffered because of this fraud,” the minister said in a Facebook post.

His remarks came after the MP for Wayanad said yesterday that the Modi government should stop running the ‘bulldozer of hate’ and run power stations instead.

“On April 20, 2022, I told the Modi government to stop running the bulldozer of hate and start power plants in the country. Today, the coal and power crisis has made havoc all over the country,” Gandhi wrote in a Facebook post.

He added: “I repeat – This crisis will destroy small industries, due to which unemployment will increase further. Small children cannot stand this scorching heat. The lives of patients admitted to hospitals are at stake. There will be financial losses through the shutdown of rail and metro services.”

Refuting his claims about the BJP-led central government, Joshi said the Center is continuously taking many steps to increase coal production in the country, citing that India’s coal production has increased to 777 MT and the drawdown of 818 MT in FY 2021-22. .

“The country’s coal production was only 566 MT in the fiscal year 2013-14, while it increased to 777 MT and drew 818 MT in the fiscal year 2021-22 under the government. Modi. But Rahul Gandhi doesn’t understand these numbers because he is a fool. If he loves making predictions so much, then he should at least once tell the future of his own party! Joshi added.

Several states in India have been rocked by power outages due to the country’s coal crisis. Coal India Limited reported a 27.2% increase in production in April 2022, compared to the previous year period, the Coal Ministry said on Friday.

The Ministry of Coal further informed that CIL currently has a stockpile of coal of 56.7 MT, while the stockpile of Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) is 4.3 MT and the captive coal blocks have about 2.3 MT in stock.

Electricity demand increased in April due to the heat wave and people in different parts of the country are facing power cuts. The problem has been compounded by a sharp rise in the price of imported coal due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and some power plants not operating at full capacity.

Amid reports of dwindling coal stocks with thermal power plants, Joshi said the country’s thermal power plants hold about 22 million tons of coal, which is enough for 10 days and replenishment will be done in continued.

(Only the title and image of this report may have been edited by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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