India mined more coal, built more power plants, and distribution companies connected millions of homes to the grid over four years to 2019. But those companies are now saddled with a record debt that hinders a key government promise.
“24×7 power” is the government’s priority, India’s new power minister Raj Kumar Singh said on May 30, 2019. His predecessor, Piyush Goyal, declared India “power surplus” two years ago, and a government dashboard says 99.99 per cent of rural homes–which account for nearly 7 in 10 Indian homes–now have grid power.
At the root of the contradictions between almost-universal electrification, “surplus” electricity and the inability to supply it around-the-clock to Indian homes is a debt that burdens state-owned electricity distribution companies (DISCOMs) nationwide, impairing their ability to build and maintain power grids and equipment.
