Power consumption ticks up a marginal 0.88% in February

India’s power consumption grew 0.88 per cent in February at 104.73 billion units (BU) due to a slight rise in temperature in the month, official data showed.

Power consumption in February 2020 was 103.81 BU, according to the power ministry data.

However, the peak power demand met, which is the highest supply in a day, recorded a growth of 6.7 per cent at 188.15 GW in February 2021, compared to 176.38 GW in February 2020.

After a gap of six months, power consumption recorded a 4.5 per cent year-on-year growth in September and 11.6 per cent in October. In November 2020, the power consumption growth slowed to 3.12 per cent, mainly due to the early onset of winter. In December, power consumption grew by 4.5 per cent while it was 4.8 per cent in January 2021.

Experts said that the indication of early onset of summer this time with slightly hotter weather in February than normal in the month led to a slight growth in power consumption.

They are optimistic that with complete easing of lockdown in all parts of the country and with onset of summer, power consumption would record a robust growth in the coming months.

However, the peak power demand met is growing steadily. It has grown at nearly 11 per cent in January.

The rising peak power demand met indicates revival in economic activity, leading to higher commercial and industrial demand, which was affected due to the pandemic.

The government had imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 25, 2020, to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Power demand started declining from April as economic activity was disrupted due to the pandemic. It affected power demand for five months in a row — from April to August 2020.

Demand recovered from September onwards. Peak power demand met grew at 1.7 per cent in September, 3.4 per cent in October, 3.5 per cent in November and 7.2 per cent in December.