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India may have to underutilize or idle some electricity generation plants, affecting 22 gigawatt of capacity this fiscal year that began April 1, due to a shortage of coal supply from state-run Coal India Ltd. to private and government-owned utilities, the top bureaucrat in the power ministry said.

Most Indian power producers aren't keen on importing coal as it is a time-consuming process, Power Secretary P. Uma Shankar said recently. "The tendering process takes a long time...It is high-value contract and due-diligence takes a long time."