India's daily peak power demand touched a new high of 222.9 gigawatts on Thursday, due to higher demand of power from states like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.
The previous high of 220 GW was recorded on May 17, according to the data from the Power System Operation Corp.
The peak power demand is in sync with the 229-GW demand growth projected by the Ministry of Power for the April–June period.
Demand growth has not been consistent due to sporadic rain across India in April and May. The delay in monsoon has also increased the average temperature and may lead to further growth in the peak demand.
Although the monsoon is expected to proceed favourably, the peak demand may even cross the 229 GW mark if the system does not set in early.
In January, the ministry had directed all power generating firms to mandatorily import coal up to 6% of their total requirement to meet the daily demand and prevent a shortage like last year.
Six states and NTPC Ltd. have already placed imported coal tenders. The order to all coastal-imported, coal-based power plants to mandatorily import coal also ensured that coal build-up was healthy.
The imported coal stock stands at 4.3 million tonne and if the domestic stock of 32.72 MT is added to it, the total coal of stock goes up to 37 MT. Indian power plants have an average of 13.7 days of coal at their disposal, while the total coal stock as against normative requirement is 55%.
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