Recovery tracker: Lower power generation, decline in workplace visits

Traffic congestion rose during the latest week

Power generation remained in the slow lane last week with a sharp dip in generation over the previous week. The 7-day average generation during the week-ended October 24th (reported on October 25) was 5 per cent lower than the previous week and lowest in the last four months. This could be attributed to coal shortage that has forced any utilities to curtail electricity generation. The power utilities across the country generated 3673 million units (MUs) of electricity on average per day last week, down from 3861 MUs a week ago. Generation last week was however 2.6 per cent higher than corresponding week in 2020 and showed a gain of 12.5 per cent over 2020 (see chart 1).

There was a fall in mobility amid recent religious holidays. Dussehra was on 15th October. Id-e-Milad was on 19th October. Workplace visits declined to nearly a three-month low, shows data from search engine Google. It tracks visits to various categories of places using anonymized location data. The numbers appear with a lag. The latest is as of October 19.  Workplace visits were 17.1 per cent below normal. This is the lowest figure since the end of July.  India was recovering from its second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic at the time. Workplace visits were slowly coming back. It had come back to within five per cent of normal earlier in October (see chart 2).

Delhi emissions of nitrogen dioxide were lower than the previous week. They come from industries and vehicles. Rising levels are associated with more economic activity. Mumbai emissions, based on Bandra locality data, remained muted (see chart 3,4)

Traffic congestion moved slightly higher amid the holidays, shows data from global location technology firm TomTom International. It was 29 per cent below normal in Mumbai, compared to a 33 per cent drop seen in the previous week. New Delhi traffic congestion was 17 per cent below normal compared to the previous week’s 22 per cent drop (see chart 5).

The Indian Railways recorded higher growth in the quantity of goods it carried. It was at 9.1 per cent for the latest week compared to 6.1 per cent in the previous week. Revenue growth from the goods carried dropped. It was 17.2 per cent in the latest week compared to 18.7 per cent in the previous one (see chart 6).

Business Standard tracks these indicators on a weekly basis to get a current picture of the economy. Official macroeconomic data is often released with a lag. Analysts globally have been tracking similar indicators as different countries took steps such as lockdowns to curb the Covid-19 pandemic. The Google mobility data is as of 19th October because it is released with a lag. All other data here is as of Sunday, October 24.