India still not power-surplus nation; peak deficit at 0.8%, energy deficit at 0.6% in 2018-19

NEW DELHI: India has again missed the target of becoming an electricity-surplus nation by a whisker as its peak power deficit stood at 0.8 per cent and the overall energy deficit remained 0.6 per cent in 2018-19.

In its load generation balancing report (LGBR) for 2018-19, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) had pegged overall energy and peak power surpluses at 4.6 per cent and 2.5 per cent, respectively, indicating that India would be a power-surplus country in the financial year.

In 2017 also, the CEA in its LGBR had projected that India would become a power-surplus nation in 2017-18. But, the peak power deficit was 2.1 per cent, while overall electricity deficit was 0.7 per cent across the country in that financial year.