(Image source from: What ails the power sector in India?})

The massive power outage in Mumbai on Tuesday signals the worsening power scenario in the country. Several Indian states - Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab - are facing severe electricity crisis at present.

Almost 56 thermal power plants have stock of less than seven days of coal, according to a government date. Last week the figure for coal-deficit thermal plants stood at 52.

According to the Central Electricity Authority, 100 thermal power plants in the country had just enough coal for the next six days on September 1. Since mid-2012 India's coal stock levels are at the lowest. At that time hundreds of millions of people were left in the dark in one the world's worst blackouts.

Deficient monsoon leading to less hydel power generation and lack of sufficient coal has put thermal power projects under pressure and the country is facing an electricity crisis, said Power Minister Piyush Goyal.

According to latest official data, The northern region in the country has a power deficit of nearly 5,000 MW due to unavailability of coal stocks.

Mumbai's south and central regions faced massive power outages on Tuesday when a unit of Tata Power's Trombay plant tripped.

The five states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab are facing electricity crisis. They get their power supply from Adani Power's 4,620 MW thermal power plant and Tata Power's 4,000 MW ultra mega power project. Both the power projects are located at Mundra, in Gujarat.

These states are going through power crisis as some units of Tata Power and Adani Power have shut down. Some units of Tata Power were shut down last week due to some technical problems.

Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab get their power supply from Tata's Mundra project. While Gujarat and Haryana are the recipients from Adani Power's projects

(AW: Pratima Tigga)