With India's energy demand surging to a new high and the power ministry projecting the peak at 230 gigawatts (GW) for the coming months, the government on June 12 extended its direction to run imported coal-based (ICB) plants by at least three more months.
The direction was issued under Section 11 of the Electricity Act, 2003, which makes it mandatory for the 15 ICB plants in the country, all privately owned, to operate and generate electricity to their full capacity. Prior to the June 12 order, the first order was issued on February 20, according to which the ICB plants were to operate from March 16 to June 15.
India consumed a record 223.23 gigawatts (GW) of electricity on June 9 as heat waves draped large swathes of the country. The demand is expected to rise further, as per power ministry officials. The demand which could not be met, also known as peak demand deficit, stood at 189 megawatts (MW) on June 9.
The previous high was recorded on June 8 when the peak demand touched 222.92 GW, while the deficit on that day was 548 MW.
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