Central Electricity Authority Data: India’s Electricity Demand fell to a 12-year low

According to the data released by the Central electricity Authority (CEA), the electricity demand of the country fell by 13% in October 2019 as compared to October 2018. This is the lowest in 12 years.

Highlights

• Sharp reduction in the industrialized states like Maharashtra and Gujarat indicating an economic slowdown is the major reason for the decline in demand.
• Electricity demand of the country was 98 billion units in October 2019 as against 112 billion units in October 2018.
• Power demand in Madhya Pradesh declined by 26%, Karnataka declined by 25%, Maharashtra declined by 22%, Gujarat by 19%, Telangana by 16% and Andhra Pradesh by 16%.

Reasons

• The slowdown is deep rooted in industrial sectors.
• The Infrastructure sector output contracted to the lowest in 14 years.
• The Automobile sector in the country recently cut hundreds of thousands of jobs due to unprecedented decline in sales