Peak power deficit in April-June at 0.7 pc, says Power Minister R K Singh

New Delhi: Peak power deficit during April-June, 2018-19 was 0.7 per cent while overall electricity deficit stood at 0.6 per cent during the quarter, Parliament was informed on Thursday.

As much as 170.76GW electricity was supplied during peak hours against the demand of 171.97 GW during the quarter, resulting in a deficit of 0.7 per cent, Power Minister R K Singh said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

Overall, 323.41 GW electricity was supplied against the demand of 325.42 GW during the quarter, which translated into a deficit of 0.6 per cent, as per the provisional estimates of Power Ministry. In 2017-18, the peak power deficit was 2 per cent while overall electricity deficit was 0.7 per cent across the country.

Last year, Central Electricity Authority (CEA) in load generation balancing report had projected that India would become a power surplus nation. "All India power supply position indicates that the country is likely to have a peak surplus of 6.8 per cent and energy (electricity) surplus of 8.8 per cent (in 2017-18)," the report said.

India has total installed power generation capacity of 343.89 GW including around 70 GW of renewable energy such as solar, wind and small hydro.