India’s electricity use plummeted to levels last recorded in March 2015, government data showed on Saturday, due to a nationwide lockdown to arrest the spread of the coronavirus.
India used 2.59 billion units of electricity on March 27 – the third day of the three week national lockdown ordained by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. That was lower by nearly a fourth compared with the average consumption during the first three weeks of March before the lockdown was enforced.
The energy hungry nation’s power consumption was lower on March 1, 2015 – when the country’s total electricity generation capacity was more than 25 per cent lower than the current potential.
Barring three eastern states, all regions registered a fall in demand as all offices and industries other than those considered essential have been shut.
Power sector experts say essential industrial activity such as mining in mineral-rich states such as Odisha and Jharkhand, which also produce steel, could have resulted in higher electricity use.
Electricity consumption in auto manufacturing states of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu saw power use falling over 26%, while the western state of Gujarat saw a 43% fall compared with the first three weeks’ average.
Bihar, a state heavily dependent on agriculture with relatively low industrial consumption, used higher than average electricity, raising concerns that the shutdown may not have been fully observed in all areas.
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