Power consumption grows 2.6% to 112.67 billion units in January

India's power consumption grew marginally at 2.6 per cent year-on-year in January to 112.67 billion units (BU), showing the impact of local restrictions imposed by states amid the third wave of COVID-19.

Power consumption in the entire January last year was 109.76 BU, which was 4.4 per cent higher than 105.15 BU in January 2020, as per the power ministry data.

According to the data, peak power demand met or highest supply in a day rose to 192.07GW in the month under review compared to 189.39 GW in January 2021, and 170.97 GW in January 2020.

Experts are of the view that the slowdown in power consumption growth in the fortnight of January has shown the impact of local restrictions imposed by states amid the third wave of COVID-19.

They opined that the local restriction had affected industrial and commercial demand.

The third wave of the pandemic hit the country in January 2022, which has forced many states to impose local restrictions like night and weekend curfews. They have also taken measures like banning dining in bars and restaurants.

The experts opined that the power demand and consumption would improve in the coming months as many states are now lifting local restrictions after a decline in the number of positive cases. Power consumption had grown by 3.3 per cent in December 2021 to 109.17 BU from 105.62 BU in the year-ago period.

In November 2021, power consumption grew by 2.5 per cent to 99.32 BU from 96.88 BU a year ago. Many states had imposed lockdown restrictions after the second wave of the pandemic in April 2021, which affected the recovery in commercial and industrial power demand.

Curbs were gradually lifted as the number of COVID cases fell.

Power consumption witnessed a 6.6 per cent year-on-year growth in May 2021 at 108.80 BU, from 102.08 BU in the same month of 2020.

In June 2021, it grew nearly 9 per cent to 114.48 BU, compared to 105.08 BU in the same month in 2020.

In July 2021, it rose to 123.72 BU from 112.14 BU year-on-year, while in August, power consumption surged by over 17 per cent to 127.88 BU compared to 109.21 BU in the same month a year back.

Power consumption in September 2021 witnessed flat growth at 112.43 BU, mainly due to the delayed monsoon.

In October 2021, power consumption grew at 3.3 per cent to 112.79 BU from 109.17 BU in the same month in 2020.