Power deficit rises slightly to 0.6% in Apr-Nov, demand surges around 11%

New Delhi: Power deficit in the country rose slightly to 0.6 per cent in April-November this fiscal year, while electricity demand has witnessed around 11 per cent jump in the said period, indicating buoyancy in the economy.

The latest government data available showed that the power deficit in the country stood at 5,691 million units (MU) in April to November 2022, while it was 4,058 MU in the same period a year ago.

Experts are of the view that power deficit happens mainly because of technical reasons. They opined that India is a power surplus state but sometimes discoms dont have funds to afford round-the-clock supply of electricity.

The power producers (gencos) supplied 10,12,249 million units in April-November 2022, against the demand of 10,17,940 MU, which resulted in a power deficit of 0.6 per cent.

Similarly power producers had supplied 916,529 MU in April-November 2021, against the demand of 920,587 MU, which had resulted in a power deficit of 0.4 per cent.

The data showed that the electricity requirement or demand has increased by around 11 per cent in April-November 2022, compared to the same period in 2021.

The experts pointed out that the increase in electricity demand reflects sustained recovery in commercial and industrial activities which were affected due to the pandemic, especially in 2020

and 2021.

Meanwhile, India's power consumption logged a double-digit growth of over 11 per cent to 121.19 billion units in December 2022 compared to the year-ago period, according to government data.

The robust growth of power consumption indicates sustained momentum of economic activities in

December.

Experts say power consumption and demand will further increase in January due to use of heating appliances, especially in the northern parts of the country, and further improvement in economic activities.

In December 2021, power consumption stood at 109.17 billion units (BU), higher than the 105.62 BU in the same month of 2020, the data showed.

The peak power demand met, which is the highest supply in a day, rose to 205.03 gigawatt (GW) in December 2022.

The peak power supply stood at 183.24 GW December 2021 and 182.78 GW in December 2020.

The peak power demand met was 170.49 gigawatt in the pre-pandemic December 2019. Electricity consumption in December 2019 stood at 101.08 billion units.