StatsGuru: Taking stock of the government's push to electrify India

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The government's push in the electricity sector, particularly rural electrification, continues to make news. However, as Table 1 shows, much of the task has already been completed in the past decade, with more than 10,000 villages being electrified in several of those years. Energy shortage, both overall and at peak demand, has also fallen sharply since the mid-2000s, according to Table 2. Capacity addition has slowed, according to Table 3 - perhaps Table 4, showing declining plant load factors, explains why. Coal production, which is strongly seasonal, is nevertheless increasing, as Table 5 shows. But coal imports are increasing too, according to Table 6. Finally, it is hard to see a secular increase in Table 7, the Index of Industrial Production for the electricity sector, such as might have been visible earlier.