IT companies tell employees to ensure power backup amid coal crunch: Report

TCS and Infosys have told senior executives to ensure backup to avoid disruption in major overseas projects

Amid an ongoing coal crunch across the country, IT companies have asked employees to ensure power backups to prevent disruption in major projects, as international clients expressed concerns.

A report by The Economic Times said that TCS and Infosys instructed senior executives regarding the same and asked them to inform in advance in case of load-shedding in some states.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic kicked off, a majority of the IT sector employees have been working from home.

Sources told the publication that TCS is preparing business continuity plans (BCPs), while senior employees have been told to manage project planning and staff management accordingly.

Also Read | Coal ministry to augment fuel supply to power sector from captive mines

Infosys has told its clients that its offices are equipped with generators and other alternative energy sources and it will call back employees to offices for big projects if the issue worsens.

Punjab, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Haryana have started load-shedding as coal shortage impacted power supply across India. The government has however maintained that there is ample supply of coal. Union Power Secretary Alok Kumar had attributed the power outages to low coal inventories.

As of September 29, 16 of India's 135 coal-fired power plants had zero coal stocks, according to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA). Over half of the plants had stocks that would last fewer than three days, while over 80 per cent had less than a week's stock left.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday that reports of coal shortage in India are completely baseless, days after a few states resorted to unscheduled load shedding due to crisis at power plants and several others cautioned about power shortage in the coming days. However, a day later, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi acknowledged the shortage and said the closure of some mines and inundation of a few others due to monsoon led to the crisis. He added that there was no need to panic as the situation is improving.

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