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The draft of National Electricity Policy (NEP), 2026 has been sent to the Union Cabinet for an inter-ministerial discussion, Power Secretary Pankaj Agarwal said on Thursday. The policy aims to achieve financial turnaround and commercial viability of the electricity sector and ensure adequate availability of power with reliable and quality supply, while meeting peak demand and energy requirements. "We have aggregated all the stakeholders comments. We have already moved the Cabinet note for the inter-ministerial consultation and I think it shouldn't be taking very long," Agarwal told reporters on the sidelines of 2nd Indian Power Sector Conference organised by industry body FICCI. The new policy has been designed in line with Viksit Bharat vision 2047. The official said that last NEP was notified in 2005 and then there were different set of challenges like access to electricity and shortages etc, and developing new sources of renewable energy was thought of as a solution, but today
The TNEB has implemented a series of immediate measures, including the procurement of an additional 2,000 MW of power, to ensure smooth and uninterrupted electricity supply across the state. An official release here on Sunday said that the state will be currently free from power deficits, maintaining a stable power supply for all consumers. It further said that to continuously monitor the grid and distribution status, a high-level committee of officials at the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) headquarters is operating round-the-clock, taking swift action and issuing real-time directives. Additionally, field inspection teams consisting of officers and ground staff were actively patrolling and carrying out field duties to maintain seamless distribution.
India's power consumption grew by 11.62 per cent to 166.46 billion units (BU) in June compared to the same month last year due to heat wave conditions and late onset of monsoon across the country, which pushed usage of cooling appliances like air conditioners, according to official data. The country's total power consumption was 149.13 BU in June 2025. The peak power demand also jumped to 264.76 GW last month from 242.77GW in June 2025. The southwest monsoon had set over Kerala on June 4, 2026. Generally, the monsoon arrives in Kerala around June 1, which marks the beginning of the southwest monsoon season (June-September). Thereafter, the slow progress of the monsoon in June led to heat wave conditions, which increased the use of cooling appliances like air conditioners and desert coolers, thereby increasing power demand and consumption, the experts said. They are of the view that power demand will be steady in July, as the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasts a sligh