India's Annual Power Usage Drops for First Time in 35 Years: Report

According to a Reuters analysis of government data report, the country’s annual electricity usage has dropped for the first time in at least 35 years in the fiscal year to March. This has occurred mainly due to the nationwide imposed lockdown. The electricity production fell by 0.2 percent for six straight months that ended in August 2020.

Furthermore, the demand for electricity has escalated and generation raised 23.3 percent in March as compared to previous year. However, the data report has revealed that it is the seventh consecutive monthly increase and the fastest since March 2010.

Although, the Power generation in March raised much faster than the average increase in the last six months, this is particularly because India had imposed a strict nationwide lockdown in the last week of March 2020, which indeed resulted in a dramatic fall in power usage.

However, the Electricity demand has been gradually increasing this year as the industrial activity see a rise and amid higher temperatures being recorded in March in North India, which could have resulted in higher use of air conditioning.