India’s power supply deficit narrowed down to 0.3% in the first half (1H) of the financial year (FY) 2020-2021, according to data from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA). This was an improvement from the same period last year, which saw a 0.5% deficit.

The CEA said that between April and September 2020, 625.5 billion units (BU) of power were supplied against a demand of 627.6 BU, highlighting a deficit of 2.1 BU or 0.3%. In the same period last year, 683.4 BU of energy was supplied against a demand of 687.1 BU, resulting in a 3.7 BU deficit.

The six-month period also saw a peak power deficit of 0.2%, an improvement from the same period last year, which saw a 0.7% deficit. The country met 176.9 BU of demand with 176.6 BU of power, a 307 million unit (MU) shortfall.

The northeastern region experienced the worst power and peak supply deficits at 3.1% and 5.1%. The CEA’s data showed that around 8.6 BU of power demand was met with a supply of about 8.3 BU – a 268 MU shortfall. In terms of peak power, the region saw a peak demand of 3.3 BU for which only 3.1 BU was supplied, falling short by 167 MU.

In the same period last year, the region experienced power and peak power supply deficits of 4.9% and 3.6%, respectively.

As was the case in Q2 2020, the southern and western regions were the only ones with no supply and peak supply deficit during the half. The eastern region saw a 236 MU shortfall from its 74.6 BU of demand, representing a 0.3% deficit. It did not experience any peak deficits.

The western region – comprising Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Goa – completely met 175.8 BU of power demand and 51.1 BU of peak demand during the half.

Similarly, the southern region- comprising Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Lakshadweep – also met power demand of 156 BU and peak demand of 45.7 BU in their entirety.

Meanwhile, the northern region saw power and peak supply deficits of 0.7% each. Between April and September 2020, the region saw a power demand of 212.6 BU, which was met with 211 BU of supply. This represented a 1.6 BU shortfall. It also saw 68.3 BU in terms of peak demand, which was met with a supply of 67.8 BU. There was a 482 MU shortfall.

A little earlier, data from POSOCO, the National Load Despatch Centre, showed that India’s power demand rose after dipping during the COVID-19-induced nationwide lockdown. The data showed that after the lockdown was lifted, the average daily power demand stood at 3,595 MU for the period between June 1, 2020, and August 27, 2020.