Power demand to grow in double digits, says Union Minister R K Singh

Highlighting that power demand grew by 10 per cent in the first quarter of the current financial year, Union Minister R K Singh on Thursday said the growth streak would continue.

“The demand grew by 8 per cent during the last financial year and we are hopeful it will grow further. We have improved electricity connectivity and the power supply situation in the country has improved significantly,” the power, new, and renewable energy minister said.

He was addressing a conference in New Delhi convened to highlight the sector’s achievements during the nine years of the BJP government at the Centre.

“The average hours of supply in rural areas has increased from 12.5 in 2014 to 20.53 now, while it stands at 23.78 hours for urban areas. More than 185 gigawatt (Gw) of generation capacity has been added, “transforming the country from a power deficit to a power surplus,” said Singh.

In his presentation, Power Secretary Alok Kumar said India’s installed power generation capacity had grown to 416 Gw and had been instrumental in bringing down the energy shortage to 0.2 per cent during FY24 from 4.2 per cent in FY14. 

He said there was 51 Gw of thermal power capacity and 120 Gw of renewable energy under different stages of development.

“India would not hesitate to increase its thermal power generation capacity to meet the country’s growing energy requirements,” the minister said.

Talking about the progress on the power supply side, the ministry said India is moving towards building ‘general network access’ wherein power distribution companies (discoms) can buy power at the cheapest available rates from any generator in any corner of the country thereby enabling cheaper electricity tariffs for consumers.

Kumar said the aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses of discoms declined to 16.44 per cent in FY22, which is quite close to the Centre’s goal of 15 per cent. 

The minister said the government would very soon issue the ‘Rights of Consumers’ which would lay down the time limits and standards for the various services to be provided by the discoms to provide services in accordance with standards or pay compensation to their consumers.