2.86 crore 'deprived' households get electricity connection, villages are getting electricity for an average of 23 hours

On June 9, India's electricity demand reached an all-time high of 2,10,792 MW

New delhi date. 12 June 2022, Sunday

Minister R.K. Singh said the country's demand for electricity has risen to a record 40,000 to 45,000 MW on a daily basis this year due to the scorching heat in northern India, the expansion of the economy and the availability of electricity connections to millions of homeless people.

R.K. Singh said that due to drastic improvement in power generation capacity, integration of the country into a transmission grid and strengthening of distribution system over the last 8 years, the government can provide 23 to 23.5 hours of electricity daily today.

Demand at the highest level on June 9

On June 9, India's electricity demand reached an all-time high of 2,10,792 MW. 471.2 crore units of electricity were consumed that day.

The Union Minister said that the power plants were working at their full capacity to meet the demand. The government has ordered the import of coal to boost domestic supply.

He further said that citing a survey conducted by an NGO, 12.5 hours of electricity was available in rural areas at the national level and this figure has now reached 22.5 hours. He also claimed that India has become a power surplus country today.

Capacity increase in 8 years

According to the Union Minister, 1,69,000 MW of power capacity has been connected in 8 years. The total power capacity has reached 4,00,000 MW (400 gigawatts). While the maximum demand for electricity is only 215 gigawatts.

He further said that after laying 1.66 lakh circuit km transmission lines, today the whole country has been connected to a single grid and the distribution system has been improved by replacing the old lines.

Villages get an average of 23 hours of electricity

The Union Minister said that today India is the largest single frequency power grid in the world. Earlier, we could only manage 37,000 MW of electricity from one end of the country to the other. Today we are capable of handling 120,000 MW of electricity. As a result, the availability of electricity has increased today. The average availability of electricity has reached 23 hours in rural areas and 23.5 hours in urban areas. He also claimed that electricity connections had been provided to 2.86 crore 'deprived' households. This figure is even higher than the combined population of Germany and France.