Karunjit Singh
The fear of further deepening of the power crisis in India has increased. Record demand for electricity and less coal at the plants are adding to the pressure. In the past one week, the total power shortfall in India reached 623 million units (MU). This is more than the total shortfall in March last month. Low stocks of coal at thermal power plants forced power cuts this month in several states including Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The economic recovery after the pandemic has put pressure on thermal power plants using domestic coal due to rising demand and low power supply from imported coal-fired power plants. According to senior government officials, delay in payments to coal companies by some states is also a major reason for shortfall in thermal power plants.
Due to scorching heat in large parts of the country, the maximum power demand across the country crossed the record level of 201 GW on Tuesday. The day also marked a peak shortfall of 8.2 GW, with 120 million units of energy not being met. The demand is likely to come down further with 215-220 GW expected in May and June due to rising demand amid shortage of coal at thermal power plants.
In the past one week, Jharkhand faced a shortfall equivalent to about 17.3 per cent of the state’s total power demand. The Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh together faced 11.6 per cent shortfall, while Rajasthan was 9.6 per cent short of power. Other states with significant energy deficits last week were Haryana (7.7 percent), Uttarakhand (7.6 percent), Bihar (3.7 percent) and Madhya Pradesh (2.8 percent).