Indian Small Factories Face Blackouts Amid Coal Shortage

Key Facts

1Blackouts have started hitting small Indian factories and steel mills as coal inventories at power plants plunge.

2Weak monsoon season and high temperatures due to El Niño have spiked electricity demand and lowered hydropower output.

Blackouts have started hitting small Indian factories and steel mills as coal inventories at power plants plunge. Reuters reported that a weak monsoon season and high temperatures due to El Niño have spiked electricity demand and lowered hydropower output, exhausting coal reserves across the country.

The record El Niño led to the weakest monsoon in a decade, forcing power plants to burn through coal stocks faster to meet cooling demand. In related economic developments, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reached an interest rate decision on October 7, 2026, setting the rate at 5.5% as the country manages industrial and inflationary pressures.