India's power consumption up 1.83 pc at 114.49 bn units in September

India's power consumption grew 1.83 per cent in September to 114.49 billion units (BU), showing subdued recovery according to power ministry data.

In the entire month of September last year, the power consumption was 112.43 BU, higher than 107.51 BU in the same month in 2019.

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Experts say the recovery in power demand and consumption in September 2021 remained subdued mainly because of heavy rains in the month.

They said that the power demand as well as consumption would improve in coming months and will show the impact of improved economic activities in the country as many states have eased lockdown restrictions.

They said that now the only fear is another wave of pandemic which may dampen the recovery.

The commercial and industrial power demand and consumption got affected April onwards this year due to lockdown restrictions imposed by states after the second wave of COVID-19 hit the country.

There are fears of another wave of the pandemic which may result in lockdown restrictions hitting commercial and industrial demand of power in the country, as per experts.

Peak power demand met or the highest supply in a day stood at 180.74 GW in September which is higher than 176.56 GW in the same month last year as well as 173.14 GW in the same month in 2019.

As per the revised data, in August this year, power consumption grew by over 17 per cent at 127.88 BU compared to 109.21 BU in the same month in 2020.

The second wave of COVID-19 started in the middle of April this year and affected the recovery in commercial and industrial power demand as states started imposing restrictions in the latter part of the month.

April 2021 saw year-on-year growth of nearly 38.5 per cent in power consumption.

Power consumption in the country witnessed 6.6 per cent year-on-year growth in May this year at 108.80 BU despite a low base of 102.08 BU in the same month of 2020.

As per the latest data, power consumption in June grew nearly 9 per cent to 114.48 BU, compared to 105.08 BU in the same month last year.

Power consumption in July this year grew nearly 9.4 per cent to 123.72 BU compared to 112.14BU in the same month a year ago.

Power consumption in February this year was recorded at 103.25 BU, compared to 103.81 BU a year ago. In March this year, power consumption grew nearly 22 per cent to 120.63 BU, compared to 98.95 BU in the same month of 2020.

After a gap of six months, power consumption had recorded 4.6 per cent year-on-year growth in September 2020, and 11.6 per cent in October 2020.

In November, power consumption growth slowed to 3.12 per cent, mainly due to early onset of winters.

In December, it grew 4.5 per cent, while this was 4.4 per cent higher in January 2021.