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राष्ट्रीय Parishad of India
Power is among the most critical components of infrastructure, crucial for the economic growth and welfare of nations. The existence and development of adequate power infrastructure is essential for sustained growth of the Indian economy. The fundamental principle of India’s power industry has been to provide universal access to affordable power in a sustainable way. The Ministry of Power has made significant efforts over the past few years to turn the country from one with a power shortage to one with a surplus by establishing a single national grid, fortifying the distribution network, and achieving universal household electrification.
India’s power sector is one of the most diversified in the world. Sources of power generation range from conventional sources such as coal, lignite, natural gas, oil, hydro and nuclear power, to viable non-conventional sources such as wind, solar, agricultural and domestic waste. Electricity demand in the country has increased rapidly and is expected to rise further in the years to come. In order to meet the increasing demand for electricity in the country, massive addition to the installed generating capacity is required.
India was ranked fourth in wind power capacity and solar power capacity and fourth in renewable power installed capacity, as of 2021. India is the only country among the G20 nations that is on track to achieve the targets under the Paris Agreement.
India is the third-largest producer and consumer of electricity worldwide, with an installed power capacity of 416.59 GW as of April 30, 2023.
As of April 30, 2023, India’s installed renewable energy capacity (including hydro) stood at 172.54 GW, representing 41.4% of the overall installed power capacity. Solar energy contributed 67.07 GW, followed by 42.86 GW from wind power, 10.24 GW from biomass, 4.94 GW from small hydropower, 0.55 from waste to energy, and 46.85 GW from hydropower.
The non-hydro renewable energy capacity addition stood at 4.2 GW for the first three months of FY23 against 2.6 GW for the first three months of FY22.
India's power generation witnessed its highest growth rate in over 30 years in FY23. Power generation in India increased by 8.87% to 1,624.15 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in FY23. According to data from the Ministry of Power, India's power consumption stood at 130.57 BU in April, 2023.
The peak power demand in the country stood at 226.87 GW in April, 2023.
The coal plants registered a PLF of 73.7% for the first nine-months period in FY23 compared to 68.5% in FY22 for the same period.
Thermal power plant load is estimated to improve by 63% in FY24, fuelled by strong demand growth along with subdued capacity addition in the sector.
Total FDI inflows in the power sector reached US$ 16.57 billion between April 2000-December 2022.
Some major investments and developments in the Indian power sector are as follows:
