India’s peak power demand touches its highest-ever at 185.82 GW: RK Singh

• The demand and supply of power in January (up to January 19) has grown by 8 percent as compared to the corresponding period of the last year

• The surging demand for power is a certain indicator that our economy is getting back on track, said RK Singh

New Delhi: India's peak power demand touched its highest-ever on Wednesday when it crossed 185.820 GW earlier in the day, said Power Minister RK Singh. "The peak demand for power crossed 1,85,820 Megawatt at 9:35 AM on today. This is the highest ever, a record," wrote Singh in a tweet. The demand and supply of power in January (up to January 19) has grown by 8 percent as compared to the corresponding period of the last year. Commenting on the record-high demand, Singh said, "This is the highest rate of growth ever.  The surging demand for power is a certain indicator that our economy is getting back on track."

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"The surging demand also shows the success of Subhagya, under which we gave all homes including the poor and the under privileged access to power.  This is a matter of satisfaction for us in the Ministry of Power," the minister added. The last record-high surge in power demand was recorded on December 30, 2020 when the figure had touched 182.89 GW.

The backdrop

The nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the spread of Coronavirus had caused a sharp drop in demand for power as industrial activity had come to a standstill. Between April-August 2020, peak power demand had registered a negative growth. However, a recovery was seen September 2020 onwards as peak power demand rose by 1.7 percent, to 3.4 percent in October, 3.5 percent in November and 7.3 percent in December 2020.

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