Peak Power Deficit in India Almost Wiped Out, Says Power Ministry

The power ministry on Monday said the peak power demand deficit in the country has come down by 16.2% over the past 13 years, and it has almost been “wiped out”.

Sharing data since 2007-08, the ministry said the deficit stood at 0.4% in 2020-21 compared to 16.6% in 2007-08 and 10.6% in 2011-12.

The statement was in response to a tweet sent out by the All India Mahila Congress (AIMC), the women’s wing of the Congress party, which claimed that India recorded a power supply shortage of 1,201 million units in October – allegedly the highest in five and a half years.

Peak power deficit is the difference between peak power in the country in a particular year and the demand that was met.

Refuting the claims of the Congress party, the power ministry said it was through the “multi-pronged, comprehensive and aggressive” interventions of the Centre that the deficit was nearly “wiped out”.

The peak power deficit was 0.4% (2020-21), 0.7% (2019-20) and 0.8% (2018-19), the power ministry said.

In the last nearly seven years, augmentation of the installed power capacity in the country was 1,55,377MW, it said.

“In the current year (2021-22) until October, the peak power demand has been minus 1.2% and the marginal spike was attributable to the annual post-monsoon pressure on power output. This is also likely to normalise by the end of the year,” the ministry said.

According to government records, India had a power deficit of 16.6% in 2007-08, and in 2011-12, it was 10.6%.

“This transformation from an acutely power deficit country to a situation of demand being met, except for an extremely marginal shortfall of less than 1%, has been made possible by schemes brought in by the current government to address the unhappy situation,” the power ministry said.

“The schemes include Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), launched in July 2015 for infrastructure push in the rural sector, and the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS), introduced in November 2014 to address power infrastructure gaps in urban areas,” it said.

The Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya) scheme, launched in September 2017, aimed to take electricity to every household, the power ministry said, adding that it has been able to supply power connections to 2.8 crore households.