Lok Sabha Question No. 4426 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-19
Subject: Frequent Power Outage in Western Uttar Pradesh
Ministry: POWER
Asked by: Shri Zia Ur Rehman

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4426 ANSWERED ON 19.03.2026

## FREQUENT POWER OUTAGE IN WESTERN UTTAR PRADESH

## 4426. SHRI ZIA UR REHMAN:

Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:

(a) whether  the  Government  is  aware  of  frequent  power  outages,  inadequate transmission infrastructure and poor power quality in Western Uttar Pradesh, if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether the steps have been taken by the Government to improve power supply transmission and distribution in the said region, if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether similar power sector issues are prevalent in other parts of the country, if so, the details thereof; and

(d) whether national reforms have been undertaken by the Government to ensure reliable and affordable electricity supply across the country, if so, the details thereof?

## A N S W E R

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF POWER

(SHRI SHRIPAD NAIK)

(a)  to  (c)  :  Electricity  being  a  concurrent  subject,  the  supply  and  distribution  of electricity to the various categories of consumers/ areas is within the purview of the respective State Government/ Power Utility.

As  reported  by  Uttar  Pradesh  Power  Transmission  Corporation  Ltd.  (UPPTL), there is adequate transmission infrastructure provision in Western Uttar Pradesh to meet the demand. Continuous steps are taken by UPPTL to supply good quality power.

There  is  adequate  availability  of  power  in  the  country.  Present  installed generation capacity of the country is about 520 Giga Watt (GW) as on January, 2026. India has addressed the critical issue of power deficiency by adding about 296 GW of fresh generation capacity since April 2014, transforming the country from power deficit to  power  sufficient.  The  Energy  supplied  has  been  commensurate  to  the  Energy requirement with only a marginal gap which is generally on account of constraints in the State transmission/ distribution network. The details of Power supply position in the country and in the State of Uttar Pradesh (UP) during last four financial years (up to January, 2026) are given at Annexure-I. Further, as reported by the State, average daily hours of supply details are enclosed at Annexure-II.

The Central Government has taken the following steps to ensure reliable and affordable electricity supply across the country:

- (i) The Central Government supplements the efforts of the State Governments by establishing  power  plants  through  Central  Public  Sector  Undertakings  (CPSUs)  and making power available to the various States / UTs.

………2.

- (ii) Proactive  monitoring  of  generation  projects  under  construction  to  facilitate commensurate capacity addition.
- (iii) Hydro based generation is scheduled in a manner so as to conserve water for meeting demand during peak period.
- (iv) All the Generation Companies including Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and Central generating stations have been advised to generate and maintain full availability on daily basis excluding the period of planned maintenance or forced outage.
- (v) Adequate coal stocks are maintained at coal-based power plants.
- (d): Government of India has been supplementing the efforts of the States through schemes like Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS), Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (SAUBHAGYA) to  help  distribution  utilities  achieve  the  objective  of  providing  quality  and  reliable supply of power in their area of operations. Projects worth ₹1.85 lakh Cr. were executed under DDUGJY, SAUBHAGYA and IPDS in the country.

In  addition,  Government  of  India,  in  July  2021,  launched  the  Revamped Distribution  Sector  Scheme  (RDSS)  with  the  objective  of  improving  the  quality  and reliability  of  power  supply  to  consumers  through  a  financially  sustainable  and operationally efficient Distribution Sector in the country. The scheme aims to reduce the Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses to pan-India levels of 12-15% and under-recovery per each unit of electricity supplied to zero.  Financial assistance is provided to the distribution licensees for upgradation of distribution infrastructure and smart metering works. Under this scheme, projects worth ₹ 1.53 lakh Cr. for loss reduction works  and ₹ 1.31 Lakh Cr. for smart metering have been sanctioned for the country. Fund release under the scheme for distribution infrastructure works is linked to performance of the distribution utilities against various reform measures including parameters like timely release of subsidy & Government department dues, publishing of annual account & tariff order, no new creation of regulatory asset, reduction in AT&C losses & Gap between the Average Cost of Supply and Average Revenue Realised etc. This has helped improve financial discipline in the distribution utility.

Further, to support the power distribution utilities to improve their Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses some of the key initiatives taken, in addition to RDSS, are as under:

- i. Additional Borrowing consent of 0.5% of GSDP to State Governments, which is conditional on them undertaking specific reforms in the power sector.
- ii. Additional  Prudential  Norms  for  sanctioning  of  loans  to  State  owned  power utilities contingent on the performance  of power  distribution utilities against prescribed conditions.
- iii. Rules for implementation of Fuel and Power Purchase Cost Adjustment (FPPCA) and cost reflective tariff so as to ensure that all prudent cost for supply of electricity is passed through.
- iv. Rules and Standard Operating Procedure issued for proper subsidy accounting and their timely payment.

***********

ANNEXURE-I ANNEXURE  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (c)  OF  UNSTARRED

QUESTION NO. 4426 ANSWERED IN THE LOK SABHA ON 19.03.2026 ************* Power Supply position in the country and in the State of UP in terms of Energy requirement and Energy supplied.

|                               | All India          | All India       | All India           | All India           | Uttar Pradesh      | Uttar Pradesh   | Uttar Pradesh       | Uttar Pradesh       |
|-------------------------------|--------------------|-----------------|---------------------|---------------------|--------------------|-----------------|---------------------|---------------------|
| Financial Year (FY)           | Energy Requirement | Energy Supplied | Energy not Supplied | Energy not Supplied | Energy Requirement | Energy Supplied | Energy not Supplied | Energy not Supplied |
|                               | (MU)               | (MU)            | (MU)                | ( % )               | (MU)               | (MU)            | (MU)                | ( % )               |
| 2022-23                       | 15,13,497          | 15,05,914       | 7,583               | 0.5                 | 1,44,251           | 1,43,050        | 1,201               | 0.8                 |
| 2023-24                       | 16,26,132          | 16,22,020       | 4,112               | 0.3                 | 1,48,791           | 1,48,287        | 504                 | 0.3                 |
| 2024-25                       | 16,93,959          | 16,92,369       | 1,590               | 0.1                 | 1,65,090           | 1,64,786        | 304                 | 0.2                 |
| 2025-26 (up to January, 2026) | 14,27,436          | 14,27,009       | 427                 | 0.0                 | 1,41,475           | 1,41,449        | 26                  | 0.0                 |

***********

ANNEXURE-II ANNEXURE  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (c)  OF  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4426 ANSWERED IN THE LOK SABHA ON 19.03.2026

## *************

Average daily supply hours of Uttar Pradesh

|                | Rural                                 | Rural                          | Urban                                 | Urban                                     | Urban                                  | Emergency   |
|----------------|---------------------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|-------------|
| Month          | Except Bundelkhand (Scheduled 18 hrs) | Bundelkhand (Scheduled 20 hrs) | Nagar Panchayat (Scheduled 21:30 hrs) | Tehsil Headquarte r (Scheduled 21:30 hrs) | Janpad Headquarte r (Scheduled 24 hrs) | power cut   |
| April 2025     | 18:28                                 | 20:05                          | 21:31                                 | 21:36                                     | 24:00                                  | -           |
| May 2025       | 18:36                                 | 20:12                          | 21:35                                 | 21:37                                     | 24:00                                  | -           |
| June 2025      | 18:34                                 | 20:13                          | 21:36                                 | 21:40                                     | 24:00                                  | -           |
| July 2025      | 18:19                                 | 20:05                          | 21:30                                 | 21:30                                     | 24:00                                  | -           |
| August 2025    | 19:04                                 | 20:39                          | 21:55                                 | 21:53                                     | 24:00                                  | -           |
| September 2025 | 18:37                                 | 20:19                          | 21:44                                 | 21:41                                     | 24:00                                  | -           |
| October 2025   | 22:19                                 | 22:50                          | 23:15                                 | 23:19                                     | 24:00                                  | -           |
| November 2025  | 18:41                                 | 20:19                          | 21:37                                 | 21:36                                     | 24:00                                  | -           |
| December 2025  | 18:21                                 | 20:03                          | 21:31                                 | 21:31                                     | 24:00                                  | -           |
| January 2026   | 18:47                                 | 20:16                          | 21:39                                 | 21:39                                     | 24:00                                  | -           |
| February 2026  | 18:52                                 | 20:24                          | 21:44                                 | 21:46                                     | 24:00                                  | -           |

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