Power consumption rises 18% to 30.33BU in July

India's power consumption grew nearly 18 per cent in first week of July to 30.33 billion units (BU) compared to a year ago and returned to pre-pandemic level mainly due to easing of lockdown curbs and delayed monsoon, according to power ministry data.

Power consumption during July 1-7 last year was 25.72 BU. Power consumption was recorded at 26.63 BU in first week of July in 2019. Thus, consumption of power has not only grown year-on-year but also returned to pre-pandemic level. In July 2020, power consumption recovered to 112.14 BU, but remained lower than 116.48 BU in the same month of 2019 (pre-pandemic level).

Experts say recovery in power demand and consumption in first week of July is mainly due to delayed monsoon and improvement in economic activities due to easing of lockdown restrictions by States. They said power demand as well as consumption returned to pre-Covid levels in the first week of July, giving clear indication that there would be robust recovery in coming days. The commercial and industrial power demand and consumption got affected April onwards this year due to lockdown restrictions imposed by States. Experts say since the number of daily Covid-19 positive cases has declined across the country and States have eased lockdown curbs, the commercial and industrial demand of power is bound to see an uptick from July. Peak power demand met or the highest supply in a day touched an all-time high of 200.57 GW in the first week of July ( recorded on July 7, 2021). Daily power consumption also touched an all-time high of 4,508 million units on July 7, 2021.