印度已搁置一项强制进口煤炭的提议，以提升该国电厂日益减少的煤炭库存，因为海运价格上涨和卢比走弱导致进口煤炭成本上升。
India has shelved a proposal to mandate coal imports in order to boost dwindling stockpiles at the country’s power plants, as rising seaborne prices and a weaker rupee inflate the costs of incoming shipments.
知情人士透露，政府在最近几周曾讨论一项计划，要求电厂将进口煤与国内煤混合使用，以缓解当前的供应紧张情况。这些人士要求匿名，因为讨论属于私下进行。然而，由于成本高昂，该提议如今已被搁置。
The government in recent weeks discussed a plan to ask power plants to blend imported grades with domestic coal in order to ease the current supply crunch, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named as the discussion was private. High costs, however, mean that proposal has now been shelved.
知情人士补充称，政策制定者改为要求国有巨头煤炭印度有限公司提高产量，并请铁路部门协助确保向电厂及时运输煤炭。电力部和煤炭印度有限公司未能立即回应置评请求。
Policymakers have instead asked state-owned giant Coal India Ltd. to boost output and the railway to help secure timely transport to power stations, they added. The power ministry and Coal India didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
由于季风不佳导致气温在夏季过后仍持续偏高，刺激了制冷和灌溉用电需求，印度的煤炭储备已降至近五年来的最低水平。降雨偏少也削弱了水电输出，增加了燃煤电厂的发电负担，导致其库存被耗尽。
The country’s coal reserves have plunged to the lowest in nearly five years after a poor monsoon kept temperatures elevated well past the summer months, spurring electricity demand for cooling and irrigation. Below-normal rains also curbed hydropower output, stretching generation from coal plants and draining their reserves.
截至10月17日，全国近一半的电厂燃料库存处于“临界”水平，低于所需量的四分之一，电力部数据显示。该国的电力缺口在9月也激增，使得该月的电力短缺达到近十年来最严重水平。
Nearly half the nation’s power plants had “critical” levels of fuel inventory as of Oct. 17, holding less than a quarter of what’s required, data from the power ministry show. The nation’s electricity deficit also surged in September, marking the worst power shortages for the month in nearly a decade.
此前，政府曾通过要求电厂接受进口煤以补充国内供应的方式应对煤炭紧张。但根据彭博社汇总的数据，基准热煤价格目前已升至三年来最高水平，而在油价上涨已推高国家能源账单之际，这进一步抑制了采购意愿。
The government has previously dealt with coal crunches by demanding plants accept imports to supplement domestic supplies. But benchmark thermal coal prices are currently at the highest in three years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, deterring purchases at a time when higher oil prices have already driven up the country’s energy bill.
随着天气转凉，政府预计电力消费将随储备补充而放缓。根据欧洲中期天气预报中心的预测，未来两周平均气温将略有下降，但仍将高于30年平均水平。
With cooler weather setting in, the government expects power consumption to slow just as reserves are replenished. Mean temperatures are expected to decline slightly over the next two weeks, while still remaining above the 30-year normal, according to the European Centre for Medium Term Forecasting.
尽管10月份电力需求仍然高企，但库存消耗速度已有所放缓。根据彭博社基于能源部数据的计算，10月前17天国内燃煤电厂的平均日减少量约为4.8万吨，为上月水平的五分之一。
While power demand remains high in October, inventory depletion has slowed. Average daily reduction at domestic coal-burning facilities in the first 17 days of October was about 48,000 tons, a fifth of the rate seen last month, according to Bloomberg calculations based on power ministry data.