India’s power supply deficit stood at 0.6% during the financial year (FY) 2018-19, just 0.1% down from the figures reported during FY 2017-18.

During FY 2018-19, 1,267,209 million units (MUs) of electricity were supplied against the requirement of 1,274,564 MUs. This was 7,355 MUs lesser than the targeted energy requirement, according to the data provided by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).

Mercom had previously reported that the energy supplied in March 2019 was 110 billion units (BUs), an increase of 4% from 106 BUs supplied in March 2018. Compared to February 2019, the energy supplied was 15 BUs more.

According to CEA’s 2018 Load Generation Balance Report, India was expecting a power surplus of 4.6% based on the assumption that the country’s peak demand will reach 185,122 MW with a peak surplus of 2.5% during the FY 2018-19.

During the FY 2018-19, the CEA expected peak surplus of 2.5% in the country, but in actuality, there was a power deficit of 0.8% which can be attributed to the curtailment of power in some of the states for various reasons, including a lack of transmission access or transmission congestion. However, the power deficit dropped by 1.6% when compared to FY 2017-18.

The northeastern region faced the highest power supply deficit of 2.8%, as well as the peak power deficit of 3.9% during FY 2018-19. On the other hand, the southern region witnessed just 0.1% of power supply deficit and recorded zero peak power deficit in the country. The northern and eastern regions registered power deficits of 2.3% and 1.8% respectively.

According to the CEA report, power generation in India grew by 3.56% in FY 2018-19. The western, southern, eastern and northeastern regions of India accounted for the fastest growth in India’s generation capacity.

Power generation in the northeastern region grew by 7.66%, in the western region by 6.52%, in the southern region by 3.99%, and in the eastern region by 3.04%. The northern region witnessed a negative growth of 0.72%, compared to FY 2017-18.

The CEA forecast has missed the mark 2 years in a row. According to last year’s LGBR study, India expected a power surplus of 8.8% and peak surplus of 6.8% in the country during FY 2017-18. The forecast turned out to be aggressive considering India’s actual power supply deficit came in at 0.7%, and peak power deficit was 2% during financial year (FY) 2017-18.