Country faced 1.6% peak power deficit in Apr-Nov: Central Electricity Authority

In June 2016, the Modi govt claimed the country would not encounter any power shortfall this year

The country faced 1.6% peak power deficit in the April-November period of this financial year, negating the Modi government's claim of zero deficit.

In June this year, the Centre claimed the country would not encounter any power shortfall this year, citing its efforts to overcome fuel scarcity.

According to a report by Central Electricity Authority (CEA), which says of the total peak power demand of 159,542 Mw in the period, the country's availability was 156,934 Mw, meaning that 2,634 Mw of power requirement was unmet.

The deficit was more pronounced in the Northern region where peak deficit was 1.4%. Jammu & Kashmir topped the power deficit list with a shortfall of 15.4%. Uttar Pradesh was next with 9.8% deficit and it was followed by Uttarakhand at 2.4%. With a deficit of 81 Mw, Delhi, too faced a shortfall of 1.1% during the peak hours.

Among the Southern states, Kerala and Karnataka were the major sufferers with peak power shortfall of 3.3% and 1.2% respectively. Only Telangana was power surplus in the Southern region where the average shortfall was 1.1%.

In the Eastern region, Odisha and Jharkhand were able to meet their peak power demand. Bihar fared the worst with a shortfall of 4.7% during the peak hours. West Bengal grappled with a marginal shortfall of 0.6%.

In terms of peak power availability, the Western region proved to be the best with an overall deficit of only 0.1%.

Among the Northeastern states, the peak power deficit in Arunachal Pradesh was a high of 5.4% while Assam had 2.4%.