Supply and payment crisis

Systemic weakness in power sector exposed again

The unusually high temperatures in much of northern and western India have, as is often the case, increased loads on the electricity grid. Together with the post-pandemic resumption of economic activity, this has caused the demand for power to increase by almost 9 per cent monthly and hit all-time highs. It crossed 201 gigawatts late last month, and may increase by another 20 gigawatts as the summer intensifies. Supply is struggling to keep up, with some analyses suggesting that over much of April, it fell short of demand by about 1.5 per cent. As a consequence, some states are facing