- Wednesday, April 24, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA’S power consumption went up 18.6 per cent in August to 129.51 billion units (BU), a level which is higher than the pre-Covid period, due to improved economic activities amid easing of lockdown curbs by states, data from the country’s power ministry revealed.
In August 2020, India’s power consumption stood at 109.21 BU, lower than (111.52 BU) the same month in 2019, according to the data. Experts say that the recovery in the country’s power demand and consumption in August this year is consistent and robust.
They are also of the view that the recovery would further improve as many states have eased lockdown restrictions to boost economic activities after the number of new cases of infection went down.
However, the experts are also keeping their fingers crossed in apprehension of another wave of the pandemic, saying it could dampen the recovery.
Demand of power in the commercial and industrial sectors was affected from April this year owing to lockdown restrictions imposed by the states to contain the second wave that wreaked havoc. There are fears that another wave could result in lockdown restrictions and impact commercial and industrial demand for power.
The peak power demand in August last year stood at 167.52 Gigawatt (GW), lower than 177.52 GW in the same month the year before, showing the adverse impact of the pandemic on power demand. The Indian government had imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 25, 2020, to contain the spread of coronavirus.
The lockdown was eased on a phased manner but it hit the economic and commercial activities and resulted in lower commercial and industrial demand for electricity in the country.
The month of April saw a year-on-year growth of more than 38 per cent in power consumption. The second wave of Covid started in the middle of April and affected the recovery in commercial and industrial power demand as the states started imposing restrictions in the latter part of the month.
