Electricity Demand Falls By 24.9% During Lockdown: Centre

The economic slowdown has resulted in a steady decline in power demand across the country.

The biggest reason for this was the 4-hour notice given for lockdown on 23 March, due to which the economic wheel of the country was completely stalled. New figures show that from April to September, the demand for electricity in the country came down drastically, giving a clear picture of ​​how economic activity in the country is further deteriorating.

According to the latest data from the Ministry of Power, in March 2019, where the peak power demand in the country was 1,69,315 MW, the figure reached 1,70,749 MW in March 2020. Then came the lockdown and in April 2019, where the peak demand for electricity was 1,77,424 MW across the country, it decreased to 1,33,200 MW i.e. 24.9% in April 2020. After this, in May 2019 there was a peak demand of 1,82,533 MW, which came down to 1,66,890 MW i.e. a decline of 9.1%.

Similarly, electricity demand in the country declined by 9.3% in June, 3.2% in July and 6.5% in August. This decline is seen in comparison to the 2019 figures.

It is clear from these figures of the Ministry of Power that how the lockdown to avoid Coronavirus broke the back of the industry and the country is still emerging from that shock.

If we match the figures for industrial production in the country with the demand for electricity, then the picture becomes clear. For example, during April-July period industrial production had contracted by 29.2%. Earlier, the National Statistics Office (NSO) released the data that India's GDP has shrunk to 23.9% for the first quarter of April-June.

But the most worrying thing is that this decline is visible even in the month of August, two months since the lockdown was lifted.