Lights out? More load shedding on the cards, suggests power supply report

Data shows that peak demand for power rose 8.5 per cent in just six months

A routine monthly report that tracks power supply in the country has embarrassed the government as it puts a question mark over its plan to make electricity available round the clock by March 2019. 

Data from the National Load Despatch Centre, which monitors how India’s electricity grid is performing, shows that there is now a more than one per cent gap between the peak demand for power and what the power stations can supply. The gap was over 2,000 Mw on any given day in October, and has been widening since the beginning of this financial year. 

This means that India may