India’s power shortage will ease by the end of the year said the Power Ministry on Monday while explaining how the country has transitioned from being a power-deficit country to being able to meet demand.
In the current year, up till October, the power deficit has been -(1.2) per cent. The marginal spike (when compared to last year) is on account of the annual post monsoon pressure on power output, it said.
Falling deficit
“Through multi-pronged, comprehensive and aggressive interventions of the government, this deficit is nearly wiped out. Over the last 3 years, the power deficit has consistently fallem: -(.4) per cent in 2020-21, -(.7) per cent in 2019-20 and -(.8) per cent in 2018-19,” the Ministry said.
India had a massive power deficit of -(16.6) per cent in 2007-08. Even in 2011-12, it was at -(10.6) per cent, the Ministry added.
Ministry policies
According to the Ministry, its policies like Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), introduced in 2015 for infrastructure push in the rural sector, Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS), started in November 2014 to fill in power infrastructure gaps in urban areas, and the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya) scheme launched in 2017 to take electricity to every household have enabled the country to meet the growing demand for power.
It added that the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya) scheme has been able to supply electricity connections to 2.8 crore households which were hitherto in darkness.
“The augmentation to the installed power capacity in the country, consequent to these efforts, has been 1,55,377 MW in the last 7 years,” the Ministry said.