Lok Sabha Question No. 1874 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-28
Subject: Increased Demand for Power
Ministry: POWER
Asked by: K. Subbarayan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1874

## ANSWERED ON 28.07.2022

## INCREASED DEMAND FOR POWER

## 1874.  SHRI SUBBARAYAN K.:

Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether it is a fact that the power utilities in most of the States have struggled to meet the increased demand for power during the month of April this year due to surging heat wave and shortage of coal;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the reasons for the said crisis during this period; and
- (d) the remedial measures taken/being taken by the Government to maintain the supply of coal to thermal power plants in the country?

## A N S W E R

## THE MINISTER OF POWER AND NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY

(SHRI R.K. SINGH)

(a) to (c) :   The details of All India Power Supply Position for the months of April, 2022 to June, 2022 as compared to the corresponding months of 2021 are given at Annexure-I.

As per information furnished by Central Electricity Authority (CEA), there was a growth of 12.8% in Energy Supplied during the month of April, 2022, as compared to April, 2021 and, there has been an increase of 14.7% in the Energy Requirement on All India basis in  April,  2022,  vis-à-vis  April,  2021,  which  has  resulted  in  a  gap  of  2.0%  between  Energy Requirement and Energy Supplied in April, 2022. The gap between energy demand and supply is generally on account of factors other than inadequacy of power availability in the country e.g.  constraints  in  distribution  network,  financial  constraints,  commercial  reasons,  forced outage of generating units etc

The gap between Energy Requirement and Energy Supplied had been reduced considerably from the level of 2.0% during April, 2022, to 0.4% and 0.6% during the months of May,  2022  and  June,  2022  respectively, despite the significant increase in  Energy Requirement during these months as compared to the corresponding months of May, 2021 and June, 2021.

Further, the coal stock available in the power plants of the country monitored in Central Electricity Authority (CEA) on daily basis was about 25.6 Million Tonnes (MT) as on 31.03.2022. The stock  depleted to 21.9 MT as on 30.04.2022 but has increased during the months of May, 2022 and June, 2022 and has now reached 28.7 MT as on 21.07.2022, which is sufficient for an average of 10 days at a requirement of 85% Plant Load Factor (PLF).

- (d) : The  steps  taken  by  Central  Government  for  meeting  the  increased  power demand are given at Annexure-II.

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ANNEXURE-I ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (c)  OF  UNSTARRED QUESTION    NO. 1874 ANSWERED IN THE LOK SABHA ON 28.07.2022 **************

The details of All India Power Supply Position for the months of April, 2022 to June, 2022 as compared to the corresponding months of 2021.

|          | 2022-23              | 2022-23         | 2022-23             | 2022-23             | 2021-22              | 2021-22         | 2021-22             | 2021-22             | %Change              | %Change         |
|----------|----------------------|-----------------|---------------------|---------------------|----------------------|-----------------|---------------------|---------------------|----------------------|-----------------|
| Month    | Energy Require- ment | Energy Supplied | Energy not Supplied | Energy not Supplied | Energy Require- ment | Energy Supplied | Energy not Supplied | Energy not Supplied | Energy Require- ment | Energy Supplied |
|          | (MU)                 | (MU)            | (MU)                | (%)                 | (MU)                 | (MU)            | (MU)                | (%)                 | (%)                  | (%)             |
| April    | 134,781              | 132,028         | 2,752               | 2.0                 | 117,496              | 117,080         | 417                 | 0.4                 | 14.7                 | 12.8            |
| May      | 135,765              | 135,156         | 609                 | 0.4                 | 109,085              | 108,809         | 276                 | 0.3                 | 24.5                 | 24.2            |
| June (*) | 134,215              | 133,470         | 746                 | 0.6                 | 114,837              | 114,483         | 353                 | 0.3                 | 16.9                 | 16.6            |

(*)- Provisional data for 2022-23

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## ANNEXURE-II

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (d) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1874 ANSWERED IN THE LOK SABHA ON 28.07.2022

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## The  following  steps  have  been  taken  by  the  Central  Government  for  meeting  the

- increased power demand: (i) An Inter-Ministerial Sub Group comprising of representatives from Ministry of Power, Ministry of Coal, Ministry of Railways, Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Coal India Limited  (CIL)  and  Singareni  Collieries  Company  Limited  (SCCL)  meet  regularly  to take  various  operational  decisions  to  enhance  supply  of  coal  to  thermal  power plants  as  well  as  for  meeting  any  contingent  situations  relating  to  Power  Sector including to alleviate critical coal stock position in power plants. (ii) For augmentation of coal supply and power generation capacity, a Secretary level Inter-  Ministerial  committee  has  been  set  up  to  ensure  that  the  medium  and  long term requirements of coal are met. The IMC comprises of Chairman Railway Board, Secretary, Ministry of Coal, Secretary, Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change as members and Secretary, Ministry of Power as convener. (iii) Ministry of Power has advised power plants to maintain adequate coal in their power plant to meet the demand of electricity. (iv) There are 20 Thermal power projects (39 Nos. units) of aggregate capacity 27,550 MW which are under construction in the country. Further, 36 Hydro Electric Projects (above 25 MW capacity) totaling to 14103.5 MW are also being implemented in the country. (v) Nuclear Power Plants of 8,700 MW of capacity are under construction and 7000 MW of Nuclear power plants have been accorded Administrative Approval and Financial Sanction.

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